Here are 10 rules (from Dr. Cherie Carter Scott):
And 10 regrets and victories (from Robin Sharma):
10 Human Regrets:
1. You reach your last day with the brilliant song that your life was meant to sing still silent within you.
2. You reach your last day without ever having experienced the natural power that inhabits you to do great work and achieve great things.
3. You reached your last day not realizing that you never inspired anyone else by the example you set.
4. You reach your last day full of pain at the realization that you never took risks and so you never received any bright rewards.
5. You reach your last day understanding that you missed the opportunity to catch a glimpse of mastery because you bought into the lie that you had to be resigned to mediocrity.
6. You reach your last day and feel heartbroken that you never learned the skill of transforming adversity into victory and lead into gold.
7. You reach your last day regretting that work is about being radically helpful to others rather than being helpful only to yourself.
8. You reach your last day with the awareness that you ended up living the life that society trained you to want versus leading the life you truly wanted to have.
9. You reach your last day and awaken to the fact that you never realized your absolute best nor touched the special genius that you were built to become.
10.You reached your last day and discover you could have been a leader and left this world so much better than you found it. But you refused to accept that mission because you were just too scary. And so you failed. And wasted a life.
10 Human Victories:
- You reach your end full of happiness and fulfillment on realizing that you are all used up—having spent the fullness of your talents, the biggest of your resources, and best of your potential doing great work and leading a rare-air life.
- You reach your end knowing that you played at a standard of concentrated excellence and held yourself to the most impeccable of standards in each thing that you did.
- You reach your end in noisy celebration for having the boldness of spirit to have regularly confronted your largest fears and realized your highest visions.
- You reach your end and recognize that you became a person who built people up versus one who tore people down.
- You reach your end with the understanding that while your journey may have not always been a smooth one, whenever you got knocked down you instantly got back up—and at all times, never suffered from any loss of optimism.
- You reach your end and bask in the staggering glory of your phenomenal achievements along with the rich value you have contributed to the lives of the people you were lucky to serve.
- You reach your end and adore the strong, ethical, inspirational, and empathetic person you grew into.
- You reach your end and realize that you were a genuine innovator who blazed new trails instead of following old roads.
- You reach your end surrounded with teammates who call you a rock star, customers who say you’re a hero, and loved ones who call you a legend.
- You reach your end as a true Leader Without a Title, knowing that the great deeds you did will endure long after your death and that your life stands as a model of possibility.
But of course, here's the challenge: HOW?
Each of us have a different path to become and achieve our potential. But a primary commonality we all share is how we lead ourselves. And how we lead ourselves depends on the extent to which we know ourselves and also how we know ourselves.
When personal growth becomes an integral part of our life practice, it fosters increasing knowledge and attention to our interior, behaviors and outcomes.
The discipline of personal development consistently builds us up to be ready to encounter life's most difficult struggles: marital and parenting challenges, dynamics of aging (others and our own), and the fears that drive it all.
As we head into the 2nd half of 2018, I encourage you to prioritize and commit to ongrowing leadership development in yourself and those you live and work with. It's the only way to prevent regrets and effectively overcome life's many challenges.