BCG Blog

Hold Fast & Stay True

Society likes to pull us in all different directions. It has a special knack for making us feel like we need to be something we’re not, sometimes anything we’re not. If we’re into maximizing ourselves and becoming the best version of ourselves we can be, we’ll commit to reflection and growing our self-awareness. We’ll wrestle with our previous setbacks and mistakes in order to improve, then make the adjustments to our lives that increase our chances of being better in the future. And, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. 

We gather all of this feedback from those around us, society. Too often, this audience gives us poor advice. They tell us we need to compete like this person over here or serve our community like this person over here. The comparisons never stop. We always have someone new that we’re supposed to be like.

Here’s the deal though. The world doesn’t need anymore people pretending, or trying, to be LeBron James or Mother Theresa - or anyone for that matter. What it needs is real, authentic people that know who they are and what they stand for - and then actually stand for it.

Why Should We Care?
There are thousands of personal values that may be important to you. Well, guess what. You can’t be all of them. You have to pick what is most important to you. That’s the way life works. At Least for those aspiring to excellence. 

I suppose if you are willing to fluctuate and adjust your behavior, decisions, and values with each encounter then you may be able to touch on a large number of them. As a matter of fact, that’s exactly how most people go about their lives. And, it’s certainly possible to live a ‘good’ life this way. In my opinion, it’s the impact on others that is missing. 

By carefully choosing our values, we are telling others what is important to us. By limiting them to only a few, we increase the significance of each. As Pat Lencioni pointed out, “if everything is important, then nothing is.”

The fun, easy part of the process is discovering your values. The challenging part is living them … every single day, in every single interaction, and through every single adversity. 

Holding fast and staying true is the real challenge.

REAL TALK - Action Steps
So, how do we do it? How do we hold fast to our values when things are really good or really bad - both are equally as challenging? How do we stay true to the person we have said we want to be? I wish I had an easy answer for you, but the truth is it’s hard. And, is exactly why it’s the path less traveled.

•  Create a Failure Recovery System
  
  • Find a way to reset. When things aren’t going well or you feel yourself drifting away from your values, create a physical action or verbal cue to bring yourself back to the mindset that best serves you. It’s important to specifically lay out and plan this ahead of time in order for it to truly reset your mind.
    

• Mind your Square Squad
  
  • Your Square Squad is the group of people that are in your corner, no matter what. They like and support you for who you are, not what you do. They are always there for you when you need them, and most importantly, they will tell you the truth. The Square Squad is no place for yes-men. You need truth tellers in your Square Squad - people that will tell you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear.
    

• Avoid Resulting
  
  • Resulting is when we concern ourselves only with the outcome of a situation. This typically gives very little feedback on what really happened. When we reflect, we need to be certain to assess our success based on our fulfillment of our core values, not the desired outcome. 
    

Here’s the thing … we’re going to make mistakes. We’re going to mess this up. The key? Pick up the axe, stand up next to the tree, and swing again and again and again. Just keep choppin! That’s how you hold fast and stay true.

For more information on building excellence in your teams, visit us at www.bluecollargrit.com. 
We would love to know how we could help!

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