Run your life similar to a successful Chief Executive Officer of a profitable corporation.

You are your very own Chief Executive Officer (CEO)!

How's it going? 

You have survived 100% of the good, the bad and the ugly things that have occurred in your life. You are exactly where you are in life because of your conscious and unconscious habits, choices, and relationships.

I'm often encouraged by the concept of living for the DASH. When we go to a cemetery and notice the markings on various grave stones. It indicates the date the person was born. Then there is a straight line followed by the date they died. The straight line or the dash indicate the amount of time they lived. 

Let's decide to live for the dash while being conscious of the end date without really dwelling on it. 

Each of us are born with a set of circumstances that may serve as a weight holding us back from achieving our goals and dreams. Most of us are also born with with set of circumstances that allow us to utilize our innate talents and skills. 

Let's start by defining a Chief Executive Officer to get a better understanding of what it means to be your own CEO. 

A chief executive officer, the highest-ranking person in a company or other institution, ultimately responsible for making managerial decisions.

How does this apply to your life? 

As the CEO of your life, you have the ability and the authority to make the important decisions in it. Your life is the organization and as such will have different departments: accounting, marketing, or contracting department. The departments are present to aid the organization to run smoothly; and, if something unfavorable should occur, they are there to help and protect the organization; and these departments have an interdependent relationship.

So, for a moment, think about how this applies to your life. You have parents, mentors, allies, and partners in your life who are present to support and protect you.

Personally, I’m grateful for my personal and professional standards, who has been supportive of my military and business ventures from the very beginning!

Grab a glass of your favorite beverage, pen, a pad or digital device of choice as you and I consciously and intentionally, take charge of your life!

Let’s get started:

• Identify the current board members in your life; these are the people you go to before you make your final decisions - the ones you explain your dreams, fears and goals. You must carefully consider whether they are trustworthy men and women who will hold you accountable, want to see you thrive and clap when you succeed or learn from one of your failures. 

• Determine when it's appropriate to do some re-structuring!

One of our biggest assets are the relationships we build. In the sense of considering you in the capacity as a Chief Executive Officer of your life, consider our Executive Officers as the people who will support you through your life.  

Sometimes we'll have to release some of the people on our team to allow them to experience the growth and development that they need. 

At most points in my life, I've noticed that once I take action towards a particular goal or activity, people with specific experience, resources, talents and skills show up. Truthfully, sometimes I've accept the support and sometimes I haven't. 

Are there people in your life that you need to release - to give them the pink slip! Is there something about yourself that needs to change? What planning and restructuring needs to be done?

• Consistently evaluate your life's purpose. It's okay if you're struggling with determining your life's purpose. Most of the time we're listening to so much self doubt and chatter in our heads coupled with the what other people think we should be doing. 

Start with being quiet without distractions. Focus on what how your body reacts when you're engaged in a specific activity or when you're with certain categories of people, animals or things. one may be a tough question to answer because you may be unsure of your purpose.

Read. Find or build a community. meditate. document your observations and findings. It could change over time and that's okay. 

You're start to notice what brings you the most joy, peace, excitement; whether you're actually engaging in the activity or you're having the experience in your mind.

• Identify your daily functions? My daily functions are communication, collaboration and execution. It's good to know your intentions and your intended results as you perform throughout the day. 

Start with a list and place critical and noncritical events and activities on your calendar. Determine what you want to accomplish and identify the resources and people who can support this effort. Read productivity books, attend training sessions or simply google how to develop effective and helpful habits and daily routines.

Unconscious and conscious intentions lead our day. 

• Set SMART goals. Make short and long term goals.

Goal-setting doesn’t have to be a futile pursuit when you use this simple framework. SMART goals are established using a specific set of criteria that ensures your goals are attainable. SMART is an acronym that stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound.

Work towards building a road map so that you will remain on track!

• Identify your stakeholders; the men and women who are invested in your success or failure. A stakeholder is either an individual, group or organization who is impacted by the outcome of a project. They have an interest in the success of the project, and can be within or outside the organization that is sponsoring the project. Stakeholders can have a positive or negative influence on the project.

In other words, practically anyone either directly or indirectly connected to the you may be a stakeholder.

We should understand their interests, concerns, goals, and definition of success.  

Now What? 

The most impactful advice I received about parenting came from one the spouse of one of my military bosses. She told me that people will have share how they tackled a specific area of raising their kids. She imparted on me that the final decision on anything regarding my son rested with me and it was good to know when to ask for help. I used that same advice for every part of my life. This coupled with the advice my mother gave me, "Don't drop the baby, feed him, sleep when he sleeps and his life is not your life" are two concepts I use in most areas of my life. 

What does this have to do with you? You are the ultimate decision maker in your life, however, this is the best time to create a board members for your life.  Be intentional, kind, respectful, transparent, authentic and giving.  

Much Respect,

Angela

I invite you to the next Leadership Intensive. Visit angelaodom.com to register.