Post 4: Aspirations

"Inside-out leadership means becoming the author of your own story and the maker of your own history."

This quote hit me because it emphasized the vast power each person possesses to achieve their own definition of success, to become what they aspire to be. Each person holds the pen to scribe their own story, the will power to fabricate their own world to make their own history, to be remembered as a hero or one who created heroes.  Aspirations are a funny thing, they are sort of like wishes, yet do wishes come true? We hope and battle to achieve these aspirations we have set for ourselves; blood, sweat and tears poured out to reach this fathom of a dream, do we all achieve are greatest aspirations? no. However, do we all have the will power and capacity to fight for them? absolutely.

"The truth is that leadership is an observable set of skills and abilities that are useful whether one is in the executive suite or on the front line, on wall street or main street."

 Leadership is crucial to growth and the potential to achieve goals and dreams; however the type of leader you are is all on you. Some are the suit and tie leaders who change lives, some are the dog tag and riffle wielding leaders who save them. We are in a world now where the capacity of leadership is defined by ones willingness to dig deep and muster up the determinism to achieve greatness in their own life or in others. The concept of leadership is an aspiration, one aspires to be a great leader, a motivator, a life changer; what does any of that mean? How do you do any of those things? Is it an un-popular thing to desire to be a follower, are you less of a person if you wish to be lead and motivate the leaders? There are so many questions that challenge the threshold of leadership and ones aspiration to become one. In my world, I do aspire to be a leader, to lead those willing into battle, wielding Excalibur high in the air as triumphant acoustics enthuse me for the battle, the battle of a lifetime, as I walk across main street.

"Are leaders born or made?"

I got chills. The book acknowledges that leaders are born as such, that when they enter the world they have the innate qualities and potential to be leaders. Was I born to lead? Is that what I am supposed to do? I aspire every single day to be better than I was the day before, to have some essence of improvement as my life progresses. I am 20 years old now, do I believe that I was born a leader, do I gaze in the mirror, lost in its reflection, and witness a leader? I wanted to be, I aspired to be, a superhero when I was a kid, I wanted to grow up and have the cape, and the big muscles and the lasers that shot out of my eyes (completely impractical), I wanted to leap rooftop to rooftop and save lives. I aspired to fly above tall buildings and live the life behind the cape and the heroism. As I grew up I realized what a silly fantasy I had, being a superhero, laughable. Thus, I made a trade off, I want to teach people how to be their own idea of a superhero.

I have had this on Repeat: