We Must Live the Lifestyle of a Leader

Do you want the result or do you want the lifestyle?

Something shifted over the last 10 years with social media. It used to be that these platforms were solely a transfer of our personal networks to digital networks. We connected with old friends, neighbors, relatives, and community members. In the early days, (think OG facebook) your social network was largely the same as your personal network, with the exception of reconnecting with some folks you lost touch with. 

Now it’s likely you and I are following many accounts of people we’ve never met, and/or will never actually meet. Creator accounts on social media & youtube for every niche - cooking, coding, entrepreneurship, running, crafting, woodworking, blackstone grilling, photography. You name it.

A mainstay trend for all these creator accounts in any niche is for a successful person in the niche to transfer knowledge from their journey to the top. 

We see their end result, the successful accomplishment in whatever domain, be it travel hacking, home gardening, or fitness and we subscribe for their content in hopes of following their path to the same desired result.

But here’s the problem.

“Like, comment, subscribe” hardly ever produces results in our own lives.

We think we’re signing up for the RESULT.

But what we really should be signing up for is the lifestyle that leads to the result.

Live the lifestyle before you get the result. 

If you want to be a marathoner, you’re not signing up for the race day medal. You’re signing up to live like a marathoner for months on end.

About 6-7 hours a week of methodical, slow, boring running on the same trails and paths, at roughly the same time of day, running the same distances for months on end. Chosen suffering, but also pushing the limits of what your body can do. That is satisfying beyond the finisher medal and picture. 

If you want to be a writer you’re not signing up for the book release and New York Times best seller list. 

You’re signing up for the lifestyle of a writer. 1,000 words a day, slowly making the sentences make sense. Weaving concepts together. Starting over. Margin to sit and think and organize ideas as you stare off into the woods. Thinking it’s coming together before going back to the drawing board. Shuffling with a project for months with no guarantee a single soul will even want to read it. A willingness to find what’s in you and get clarity on what’s important to you. There’s no best seller list that will top that experience. 

If you want to be an entrepreneur you’re not signing up for “being your own boss.”

You’re signing up for the lifestyle of an entrepreneur. Complete and total responsibility for finding your own income. No safety harnesses. Risk and “eating what you kill.” Three times the headaches, four-times the hours of a regular 9-to-5. 2am emergency calls, 3am pacing wondering how it’s all going to work out. The deep satisfaction of building something. The satisfaction found in choosing to not play it safe.
Runner, writer, entrepreneur, insert whatever persona outcome you’re after - the same can be applied to your life as a leader.

If you want to be a great leader. You’re not signing up for position, power, status, and admiration.

You’re signing up for the lifestyle of a leader. Selflessness and service. Pouring into everybody else with no one pouring into you. Courage and conviction. Decisiveness and vision casting. Humility and confidence. Personal self-regulation. Getting criticized. A level of purpose not found in blending in with the crowd. 

The bottom line is, If you want to be a great leader - you have to live like a great leader.

The world doesn’t need more leaders offering quips, quotes and principles. We need leaders who live like leaders.

Leaders who are flourishing so that others may flourish.

Leaders who are thriving so others can thrive.

Leaders with great things overflowing so that others can overflow. 

Leaders who give more than they take. 

Leaders who bury self-interest and transactions so they can transform and help others transform. 

If we want the result of our life and leadership to embody this - we must live the lifestyle that leads to this. 

It takes work. We don’t drift in this direction. We learn to train in the intersection of well-being.

We learn how to flourish.

If you’re ready to live in a different way, not just long for a different result - join our next group coaching experience where we will give you the tools to live well and lead well. A framework that will help you build resilience, and flourish in all circumstances. 

Do you want the lifestyle, or do you just want the result?

Stay The Course,