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The Winter Blues Are No Match For Your Optimism

Guest post by: Michael Hume

Article Overview: If it's been awhile since you've counted up your many blessings, or reminded yourself how much you appreciate the things and people in your life, it's time to do it again. This time of year, folks in the northern hemisphere get a little sad. The holidays are gone, but the bad weather persists... and it seems some days like it will never end! But if you are able to read this, you are living a life of tremendous abundance. Be thankful for it....

The Winter Blues Are No Match For Your Optimism

Start With Appreciation... Be Inspired... Become Inspiring If it's been awhile since you've counted up your many blessings, or reminded yourself how much you appreciate the things and people in your life, it's time to do it again. This time of year, folks in the northern hemisphere get a little sad. The holidays are gone, but the bad weather persists... and it seems some days like it will never end! But if you are able to read this, you are living a life of tremendous abundance. Be thankful for it.

I know many leaders who want to be more inspiring. I always tell them the key to being inspirational is to be inspired... and anyone looking for inspiration should start with appreciation. If you think about, do you know anyone who's ever been inspired by a negative, pessimistic, critical person? I've coached one or two clients who asserted that they were inspired by a nasty person "because he's brilliant." But when you dig underneath, you find brilliance alone only "inspires" a person so far (I would argue that it impresses others, but that's not the same thing). True inspiration happens at the gut level, deep in the emotions, and can't long abide a negative spirit.

So stop being critical. Just stop it. That's the first step. Sure, your son could be doing better in school, your boss doesn't have to be such a jerk, your neighbors could clean up their yard and the government could stop spending us into financial oblivion... but focusing on those things doesn't help anyone! What does your son do that you can truly appreciate? If you don't know, spend more time with the lad. How about your boss - what made her successful? And you probably have your health, right? Think about the poor person who has to fight for air every minute of every day... if you're in better shape than he's in, be thankful.

Really - no matter how wanting you sometimes think your life is, there's a lot more to appreciate than to criticize.

Like it's been for many folks in North America lately, the weather here has been a challenge. It's been unusually cold, even for winter - and, of course, it's during this odd cold snap (and on a holiday weekend) that our furnace decided to break down. It's a bummer, and I can't say I've handled all the challenges perfectly. But by and large, I do try to keep a mindset of abundance and appreciation. I certainly am thankful that I own my own business and have both the money and the time to run out and buy electric space heaters. And I appreciate the fact that, at least up to now, I live in a country where you can walk into a store and they will have space heaters on the shelves, good ones at reasonable prices, and you can have them up-and-running at your house in minutes. No quotas... no queues... no shortages... none of the things collectivist societies have had to put up with for decades.

I'm very fortunate. And so are you.

So if your quest is like that of many of my clients, and you seek to be an inspirational leader, don't try to start at the top of the ladder. Start first by appreciating the little blessings in your life, and by letting this appreciation fill you with a renewed sense of optimism. From optimism, seek until you find personal inspiration. And once you are inspired yourself, inspirational leadership will follow as a natural attribute of the person you really are.

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Article Tags: entrepreneurship, health wealth and happiness, inspirational leadership, personal responsibility



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