Fighting Discouragement
“Pushing yourself to be the best is unsustainable. Simply push yourself to be better than the day before.”
~Simon Sinek
In the Book Chop Wood Carry Water, Joshua Metcalf uses the story of one boy’s journey, John, to become a samurai warrior. In one part of the story John is learning how to overcome discouragement and how he can be his own worst enemy by how he thinks and conducts his self-talk. Akira, John’s teacher, shares with John that he must keep his guard up and fuel his heart with encouragement. Here are the 6 ways Akira tells John to fuel his heart:
1. What you watch
2. What you read
3. What you listen to
4. Who you surround yourself with
5. How you talk to yourself
6. What you visualize
It is easy to focus on the negative, the grind, especially with stress being a big part of a manager’s life post COVID. In Proverbs 3:29 King Solomon tells the reader to “guard your heart, for it is the well spring of life.” Leaders, another reason to grow yourself is that it will help motivate and keep morale high within your team. If you let your heart be troubled, your light will be covered up leaving a darkness that comes with discouragement.
Instead, feed your mind and soul with good things. Read an informative book; watch good videos; listen to enjoyable podcasts/audio books; hang around good and positive people; stop the negative self -talk; imagine yourself and your life as you would like them to be. This benefits not only you, but also the people around you.
Keep cultivating your growth, your team is depending on it.
Jeff
