Lead Thyself

“Let him who would move the world, first move himself”- Socrates

In the wake of a new year most of us are ambitious about moving our lives in a new direction. Some symbolize this new direction with a list of New Year’s resolutions, others just make a few mental notes of things they will do differently, and then there are those who simply hope for the best. Nonetheless, we are all moving whether up or down, that is up to the sum of our decisions coupled with our actions. According to a 2012 study conducted by the Statistics Brain Research Institute, approximately 45 percent of Americans make new years resolutions; unfortunately, only 8 percent stick to them.  I am one of those folks who made a ‘list’, and yes I have been part of the other percent of ‘’mind changers’’ commonly known as resolution quitters. And I have also been part of the 8 percent. Needless to say, the 8 percent experience was more desirable. Moreover, the majority of resolution quitters throw in the towel by the end of January.

On a more positive note, if you were on the resolution quitting boat you now have 11 opportune months of potential redemption. Quit sinking. You are officially free to head back to shore and start moving in a better direction. And while you are busy getting back on track I am going to get busy writing about the actual topic of this article. And yes, I am moving in a new direction too!

Here we go, my question for you today is where are you moving to? Today, I echo the wise words of Socrates; “let him who would move the world, first move himself”. Here is my 2013 translation: you must move your household before you move a nation. Or simply put, you must lead yourself before you lead others. So you want to change the world you say? Great, change yourself first! This is not a novel idea and yours truly did not just invent this philosophy, although I secretly wish I did. Nonetheless, this principle cannot be repeated enough.

The change within seems to be the most challenging, at least in my experience. It is easier to witness the change in others than to accept and experience the change in ourselves.  Speaking of the changes in others; last night I was watching a documentary called “the art of flight”, it’s a short film on snowboarding. The film documents snowboarder Travis Rice and his friends, as they travel to the uncharted mountains of Alaska and Patagonia to pursue their passion. At one point in the documentary, Rice reminds us that “if we want authenticity, we have to initiate it". Rice and his friends apparently found their authentic lives as they lead themselves to conquer uncharted and deadly mountains, all this on a snowboard! I must confess prior to watching this documentary I didn’t even know it was legal to snowboard in places where Rice and his friends did, let alone possible. Needless to say, we don’t need to lead ourselves on the edge of deadly mountains to manifest an authentic life.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzBCI13rJmA[/embed]