Monday, December 5, 2011

Effective Teen Habit #7 - Sharpen the Saw


All great leaders know one important ingredient of their success is recharging. Leaders recognize they can only give what they receive. In other words, too much giving and the leader will end up "spiritually, emotionally, mentally and physically" weary. Leaders MUST make time to refuel the WHOLE person.

Personally, I do this both morning and night. Every night I have a devotional time where I clear my mind and conscience and gain strength and inspiration from reading fruitful sources of wisdom such as the Bible. Every morning, I exercise. Every day I make sure I am recharging myself spiritually, physically, mentally and emotionally. In addition, every week I meet up with like-minded people and socialize and fellowship to recharge as well. Finally, once a year, I take a personal get-away to refuel what I call my "dream tank."

Once a year, on my personal mini-vacation, I regain perspective. Every person needs to step back and gain the big picture on life and renew their purpose in which they are living. Without the refueling of the vision and purpose, leaders including myself will lose sight of the big goal and grow weary of the day-to-day necessities of life.

Many people think they recharge with vacations but those are simply times of rest. Actually, I have known families say the opposite! Vacationing is not the main goal here. Sharpening the saw means you set aside time to recharge and refuel yourself, the WHOLE self. Furthermore, this principle recognizes the need to maintain an alertness of one's personal health (spiritually, emotionally, physically, and mentally). A lack of alertness and a lack of refueling often leads a leader down a path to burnout.

Without WHOLE health, any leader will fall short of his or her goals. You can only achieve what your mind, spirit, soul and body allow you too! Keep them healthy!

What inspires you? What do you rely on to recharge and refuel yourself to maximize your leadership and success?

11 comments:

  1. Yes i agree too much giving will leave you drained. You do need to take time and recharge yourself. The way you do it really depends on how charged you will truly be. Take time and help yourself. I like to sometimes just sit and watch a movie alone to recharge. Leaders need to not only give to others but give to themselves.

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  2. I agree with the statement of whole body.When I want to charge myself what I usually do is run,listen to music,read a book.Thoose are things that give me strenght to relax my mind and not think about anything else.
    I think when you find your spiritual place where you can relax and be on your own you are making your mind ready for everything.I know in my life when I sit down and start thinking or doing my homework my brain is refusing thoose kind of stuff because I was born to act not to follow what the action says.On other hand when I relax myself a little bit and that is moment when all of my powers start coming back and my leadership skills start shining.If I learned one thing in my life that is that only you can decide and only you are responsible for 90% actions you take in your life and 10% is what happens around you !

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  3. I think that recharging is very important because without it we would all be burned out and most likely unhappy people. We need to do something for ourselves every now and then so we can stay strong and try to achieve our goals. I like to sit in my room alone with the radio and a book when I am stressed out because I feel calm and relaxed. I can get lost in the pages of a book then think about how to overcome whatever I am dealing with at the time. I also think it is important to have people you can go to and talk about things with. We all need to recharge.

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  4. Recharging ourselves is very important because it helps get us back on track. i like reading inspirational books or watch movies when i feel frustrated because they help calm me down and make feel everything is going to be fine.if we do not recharge ourselves once in a while we might be overcome by the challenges we face in life

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  5. I agree with every bit, you really need some time too "recharge" yourself, so you can find purpose, and figure out what you need too do to stay healthy in all categories. I really like the idea of your vacation and your "dream tank" it allows you to figure out what your purpose is and what you need to focus on in life. I will really consider keeping this in mind, as I need too focus more on recharging myself.

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  6. I think that it is very important to take the time to refuel and recharge so you don't get burnt out. I think it is also important to have everything done before you go on a trip, so you don't come back stressed again.
    I find my own way of recharging whether its by taking a hot bath with candles or laying in my bed with my dog and the radio on a country station. I am also going on a vacation the day after Christmas to Spain.

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  7. I agree that in order to be effective at anything you need to have that time to recharge yourself. This usually comes in the form of a vacation or personal time. Life can get very stressful and can cloup your perspective and decision making. The only way the vacation will do that though is if you are doing it for the right reason and not just so you can get away from people or your problems because when you were gone those problems didn't just disappear.

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  8. I think a collection of things inspire me to "sharpen my saw." I like to read Michael Jordan books of how he became a great player. Quotes from him are simple, but hold a great deal of meaning. I really like to recharge by just dreaming of what I can be if i put my mind to it. I like to recharge by listening to music. All music is good to me but i really like to think and just have some reflection time when listening. I have found that listening to music helps me get focused and stay focused.

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  9. I definatley agree that leaders need to take some time for themselves. It is important to be able to step back and redefine where you are going in life. You might step back and realize you are headed in the wrong direction. This is when you recharge yourself to go the right direction again. If you don't step back and look at how you are doing and look if you are headed the right direction, then you might continue in the wrong direction and end up in the wrong place. It is good for a leader to step back and recharge and be able to look at their own lives!

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  10. I think your idea of having a personal getaway to refocus and think about what's going on is pretty cool. When I find that I'm uninspired I like to think about what my goals are and what's important to me and how I'll achieve them. I also try to spend time every day thinking about my goals and what I wish to accomplish either that day or in the grand scheme of things.

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  11. We cant go all out all the time. Every once in a while we need a break and to get away. To stay as an effective leader you need to be sharp all the time, and taking breaks and getaways is a great way to refocus yourself.

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