Your Personal Footprint….does it lead others to an Awesome YOU?

Lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime, And departing, leave behind us Footprints on the sands of time.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

    AWESOME YOU!

How do you show up?  We all have a personal footprint—some call it a personal brand. We use our voice and actions through-out our life to create the life we live and in doing so we leave footprints of the person we are creating everywhere we go. Are the footprints of your life a representation of the life you dream for yourself? If not, reinvent yourself and recreate your story to be that life you want for yourself.

I like to think that the glass is both half empty and half full as is life.

Life is comprised of both ups and downs. 

We have all experienced ups and downs in our life. However you get to choose how to define them…it’s your story and nobody else can define your ups and downs. It is your own personal interpretation. Take the time to think about those things that you consider to be the downs of your life. These are typically the most important defining moments in your life….even if it didn’t feel like it at the time. There are lessons in every situation, and the bigger the down, the bigger and more impactful the lesson.  Try to think about the positives that came from those situations—these are the gifts that we were given that perhaps we didn’t accept as such at that moment….it is never too late to accept these gifts and often these gifts present themselves later once we have had time to reflect.

My story, like many of us, is riddled with ups and downs.  I come from a family that was very poor when I was young.  My parents had junior high school educations, and my father was an abusive alcoholic that preferred to run around with other women rather than acknowledge the family he had at home.  Needless to say, I realized later that my father gave me the gift being an example of what I did not want to be. I promised myself that that I would persevere through any challenges, I would get an education, always be loyal and keep my commitments to those that rely on me— I can and will persevere through anything as long as I don’t let the circumstances dictate my life. 

Challenged early in life when I became a teen mom and married at 17, I conjured up that vivid gift my father gave me…I persevered through the challenges and finished high school despite having a baby. Life was hard, but I went on to college and got a job that put mentors in my life that helped me see my potential.  I grew professionally….life wasn’t perfect, but I was making a difference and providing for my family. 

After nearly twenty years of marriage, my husband committed suicide and my job of 10 years went bankrupt and I was laid off.  I found myself a single mom, widowed and jobless with a mortgage to pay and two kids that were struggling with having their life turned upside down.  I relied on that gift of perseverance once again.  This time, I realized I had been given another gift… I was given the gift of grit.  My past experiences enabled me to have the ability to cope. At a time when life seemed to be falling apart around me, I had the strength to take on these challenges. And after a while….I was able to realize that my husband was now at peace from the torment that went on inside of him, and he gave me the gift of giving me back my life to recreate.

Anyone can reinvent themselves....it's your story to write—we all have had hardships, but it is never too late to recreate your life. Life's challenges are what make us who we are. Accept the gifts from those difficult times and keep practicing living the life you want….practice makes perfect and leave mindful footprints of the story you are creating.

If you have never ran before, the first time you try to run a mile it is hard.  If you keep running, before you know it you can run two miles and it doesn’t seem so hard.  Life is like a bunch of one mile runs. Each challenge may be different, though you do get better at handling what life throws at you if you are mindful of the gifts they leave behind.  As life goes on, I continue to be challenged….I even found myself confined to a bed for four months with two broken legs….and I got a wonderful gift from that experience….the gift of perspective.  Your endurance will increase and you can get to climb higher after each challenge. Overtime you can go further easier….  if you keep yourself mindfully open to  these gifts and avoid pity parties. 

Today, my children have given me five beautiful grandchildren,  I have a wonderful career, three amazing afghan hounds, a man in my life who is my best friend, many good friends and I have gotten to see the world –all seven continents. I would say I have a very blessed life. AND I now get to help create pathways for others to live extraordinary lives….the greatest gift of paying it forward.

Start thinking of yourself as someone who is building your Life to be what you want it to be….what footprints are you leaving?   

Recreate your story. If you need help defining your story, I highly recommend reading Reinventing You by Dorie Clark.

•       According to an AVG study, 92 percent of children under the age of two already have a digital footprint.

•       The question is whether you choose to define your life or to let it be defined on your behalf.

Be authentic with yourself…a strong personal footprint can yield you an ROI of having a life of abundance. Let’s start with asking yourself some basic questions:

•       What do you wish  people to associate with you when they think of you?

•       What do you want to be perceived  an expert in or are there general qualities you want linked to you?

•       Can you think of individuals who have created a personal footprint that is globally recognized that you can relate to? Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Steve Irwin, Mother Theresa.

Be purposeful in what you share and know your life’s purpose.  For example my life’s purpose (which took many many iterations before I could say it is truly my purpose) is “creating pathways for extraordinary lives”.

•       Be strategic about your personal footprint—think about your values.

•       Cultivating a strong personal footprint is just as much about being responsive to what is and is not being said about you as it is about creating intellectual property.

•       Do you have a personal website or blog?  It helps to have word searches affiliated to your personal footprint. (create a blog like this one to connect yourself with others)

•       Find ways to add value to your audience by creating content that’s in line with your brand.

•       Leverage relationships that can elevate your strategic plan. (Hang around with people that influence you—it really does boost your ability to see farther faster.)

•       Have a perrsonal symbolic montra—what symbol do people relate to you?  For example, mine is a tree....Anyone who knows me knows my love of trees--especially an evergreen tree and it's meaning which to me is powerful.

                 Tree -- evergreen

                     adj.

                 1. persists and remains green throughout the year (perseverance)

                     2. perennially fresh or interesting; enduring; well liked (people person)

                     3. automatically renewed or repeatedly made valid (continuous learner)              

Audit your on line presence

•       Google yourself and setup alerts for your name. Do you see what represents the You you are creating?  What do you do to ensure that it is?

•       Update your social network accounts

•       Keep photos current

•       Highlight Your Recent Work: Self promote with recent pieces of work

•       Be a thought leader: Share interesting content that relates to your interest or values

You can't leave footprints in the sands of time while sitting down.

Nelson Rockefeller

BE FEARLESS -- go and leave footprints of the YOU you want to create---its your life and you GET TO create it…..

Keep on Keepin On

Failure is success if we learn from it --Malcolm Forbes

Often it takes many failures before there is success.  Keep on keeping on…though success may not come to you in the form that was originally envisioned,  if you persevere, there is a chance that success is on the other side of any failure—don’t be afraid to fail forward. 

Two examples of failing forward:

Vera Wang failed to make the 1968 US Olympic figure-skating team. Then she became an editor at Vogue, but was passed over for the editor-in-chief position. So she began designing wedding gowns at age 40 and today she is one of the world’s premier designers. 

As a child, Albert Einstein was labeled with a learning disorder. Einstein's communication and behavioral problems were not indicative of a lack of intelligence and he persisted through his disability. He went on to win the Nobel Prize in physics for the discovery of the photoelectric effect, and his theory of relativity corrected the deficiencies of Newtonian physics.

Many of us want instant success and we are not willing to flex through the difficulties.  We are in an era where everyone gets a trophy and where our over righteousness gets in our way.  If nobody fails, then nobody wins and if nobody flexes to the possibilities there may be no wins and no successes. 

In leadership, many believe that being a leader is easy and that getting people to follow is even easier.  I don't care what colleges or universities teach on leadership; you don't learn how to be a leader in school. You learn it on the job by making mistakes and learning what works and what doesn't. Success starts with perseverance through the tough times, accepting other’s perceptions, being vulnerable and having an ability to flex to a new plan when things don’t go as planned.  A successful strategic planning process has an ongoing analysis of what's working and what isn't. 

However, in a society where entitlement and rectitude prevails, self-efficacy wanes and success becomes an insurmountable challenge of us against them. What could be learned from any failure instead becomes a missed opportunity of new knowledge and often a game of blame. The external locus of control thought process takes over…

 Locus of Control

Control, a word we fundamentally understand and know it as a necessary for success, yet we are often challenged when putting control into action.  Control can be defined as the power to influence or direct the behavior of others or the course of events.

Locus a word we may not be as familiar with is defined as a position, point or place. Hence, Locus of Control determines the environment of how we view our control… it may be internal or external.

Internal vs. External Locus of Control

People who base their success or failure on their own doing and feel they are in control of their life’s outcomes have an internal locus of control. In contrast, people who attribute their success or failure to outside influences have an external locus of control. In other words, how do you manage your accountability?

A simple example would be catching a cold.  One’s view may be I got that cold because of environmental factors that everyone around me is sick (external) or alternatively you may feel that you caught a cold because you have not been exercising regularly and/or not getting enough sleep (internal).  Generally speaking, we naturally lean one way or the other. However, if you lean too much towards external locus of control, you may not take enough accountability for the outcome and too much towards internal locus of control may not allow others to have accountability when they clearly own it.

What does this have to do with keep on keeping on and persevering through the difficult times? An understanding of how you manage accountability and your influence of the outcomes will help you to keep on keeping on.  If you are stuck in “it’s not my fault” mode, chances are you will not learn from the experience and your excuses will get in the way.  If you are stuck in “I don’t need anyone, I can do it all myself” mode, chances are your growth will be stunted…"if you want to go fast go alone, if you want to go far, go with others” --African proverb

Next time something doesn’t go right…don’t give up.  If you tend to be a person of external locus of control, flex a bit to your internal locus of control voice.  Take accountability and learn from your mistakes and keep moving forward.  If you tend to be a person of internal locus of control, flex a bit and ask for help, heed the guidance and keep moving forward.

Be flexible and open to learning, know when to be accountable and maintain a heartfelt passion in everything you do….AND keep on keeping on….the gift of success awaits you!

“The leader of the past was a person who knew how to tell. The leader of the future will be a person who knows how to ask.” --Peter F. Drucker

My personal lesson--

Driving into work  it was pouring rain and once again I was going to be late— I knew I should have given myself more time, but I didn’t.  Hence, Los Angeles traffic was even slower than the usual slow allowing me to take in the environment around me. I passed a tent city and noticed that poking up from various tents were American flags.  I can only assume that these are flags of the forgotten vets.  At the same time, the inaugural speech was on the radio…and I realized, these folks, no matter how hard they may have it, still flex to the possibility that our great nation will remember them…their belief in this amazing country keeps them keeping on. There was a great lesson for me to learn here.  It made me ponder, have I been leaning too much on external locus of control—reasons of why I don’t have time to give back to my community in a meaningful way. I really have no excuse to not get out there and make a difference and do something meaningful that would help our forgotten Vets….I own this lack of accountability. 

AND that scene made me realize that real success comes from the heart and its time I take accountability and create success……

“Life is going to give you just what you put into it. Put your whole heart in everything you do” --Maya Angelou