If you look up the definition of hero in Webster's, you'll find a
definition something like, "A person noted for feats of courage
or nobility of purpose, especially one who has risked or
sacrificed his or her life: soldiers and nurses who were heroes
in an unpopular war". Some heroes in our lives have earned that
badge of honor by doing something everyone feels is heroic as
defined in the traditional sense, whether it's running into a
burning building to rescue a child, pulling an injured woman from
a car accident, or fighting the enemy in the time of war.
I recently rented the movie, Seabiscuit, which started my
thinking about this whole notion of heroism. What I found heroic
in the movie was not that both Seabiscuit and his jockey. Red
Pollard, came back from adversity to win the Santa Anita race.
What was most heroic is that neither of them let adversity stop
them in the pursuit of their passion. They knew they were born to
do what they were doing, and despite physical setbacks, found the
courage to pursue their passion anyway. In the pursuit of this
passion, the paths that their lives took had a profound impact on
all they came into contact with, most especially with
Seabiscuit's owner, Charles Howard, and trainer, Tom Smith.
Howard and Smith got in touch with their owns gifts as a result
of their contact with Pollard and Seabiscuit, and racing history
was changed forever.
Where would we be today in the world without these people who
discovered their brilliance, changed the world in some way by
following their passion, and have become famous because they
followed their dreams: Albert Einstein, Henry Ford, Bill Gates,
Debbie Fields, Stephen Spielberg, Oprah Winfrey, Julia Roberts,
and Mark Victor Hanson, to name a few?
There are others who aren't yet famous yet are heroic every day
because they have discovered their brilliance and their gifts and
share those with the world. My virtual assistant, Jean Hanson,
who, after years in retail and helping her husband run a cleaning
business, now loves to step into the lives and businesses of her
clients and is thrilled with her ability to help them achieve
their goals. It's due to Jean's love of helping me achieve my
business dreams that I'm able publish a weekly email newsletter
and inspire my readers to take action to live better lives and
create better businesses.
My brother started his firefighting career at the tender age of
15, now continues to serve as the youngest-elected chief of the
local volunteer fire department, fire marshall for the city in
which he lives, and Assistant. Emergency Management Coordinator
for his local tri-county region. When the space shuttle Columbia
exploded mid-air on February 1, 2003, and debris rained down on
East Texas, he organized and managed an incredible volunteer
effort to retrieve shuttle debris and remains of the astronauts,
5 of whom were recovered through his team's search efforts. How
would NASA's ability to thoroughly examine the debris and
research the cause of the explosion have changed if my brother
hadn't been there spearheading the rescue, following his passion
of firefighting, and leading with his gifts to organize and
delegate large numbers of people in times of crisis?
Each of us has a unique gift that we bring to the world, and I
truly believe that we all are here to fulfill a purpose that ties
in with our gifts. The impact that your gift will have on the
lives of others can be incredibly amazing, so you definitely owe
it to yourself, at a minimum, to discover that gift.
As a business owner, perhaps you've discovered your brilliance
and are able to pursue that daily in the operation of your
business. If you're like most business owners, however, you often
lose sight of why you started your business and get bogged down
in doing those day-to-day things that drive you nuts but are
necessary evils for keeping your business afloat, yet prevent you
from living your brilliance. If that's the case, grab a sheet of
paper and make two columns: Things I Love and Everything Else. In
your Things I Love column, write down only those activities you
love to do in your business. For me, it's pretty simple: writing,
speaking, coaching, and marketing. All the other things that need
to happen in my business, from bookkeeping to website maintenance
to fulfilling marketing plans to database updates go into the
Everything Else column, where I'm delegating (or have a plan to
delegate) these tasks to those professionals, like my VA Jean,
who are great at these things and love to do them. This, in turn,
enables me to free up my time to do what I do best, and share my
gifts with the world.
Exercise your courage muscles today, get in touch with your
brilliance, and become a hero in your own right in your business
and your life. The world is waiting to experience your
brilliance....
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