Justin Inspires

A Hard Pill to Swallow: Overcoming Setbacks in Life

Justin — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 06:13:08 +0000

Overcoming some of life’s biggest challenges can be hard, but it is much manageable when you take a step back and process it correctly. I recently encountered a person that I thought was close to me, that let me know that after all the help they had given they could no longer be apart of a project I am working on. It was so sudden, such a cold email, with virtually no explanation. Being a person who genuinely loves people I felt like this guy below, but I felt like I had to swallow this hurtful pill.

A Hard Pill to Swallow

I wondered what did I do, was it something I said, was it something I did not say. I reached out to this person, but was not able to reach him. I called friends and asked their honest perspective. I emailed him to find out what happened and see if I could make things right, but that did not work. I emailed a close friend and sent him the email trail to see if I did something that I did not see, but he also saw nothing that I did, but rather he thought it was something the gentleman was going through. What I realized is that although I genuinely cared about the relationship with this person, what was bothering me even more was that I was not in control. It did not matter what I did, it just did not seem to work, and that is when the light came on (after about four hours of discouragement).

It was eating me up inside that I could not solve it with this other person, as I had no idea what to solve. I came to a resolution that I am the only person that I have the ability to “control” and being frustrated by what I could never control would only serve to frustrate me more. It was discouraging to be quite honest. I did not feel like working on my book, and I needed help! These are the questions I asked and answered, and how it might help you to overcome a setback in your life as well.

1. What was my contribution to the setback?

I had to first reflect and think how (if at all) I contributed to the problem. Most times we automatically go to blaming other people for the setbacks, but I wanted to find out how I could improve in this situation.

2. Who can I talk to for wise counsel?

I talked it over with my wife, called a good friend and prayed about the situation. I realized that I did not want to handle this on my own because my thoughts would run away with me. Because I have established Healthy Relationships I could count on the people in my inner circle to provide me with great wisdom and counsel.

3. What can I honestly do about it?

I realized that there was nothing more that I could do, and so I had to let it go. I said to myself,

“This experience will either make me bitter or better”

I was determined to allow it to make me better. I challenged myself to let the discouragement push me to new levels of writing my book, and it has. My locus of control (check out 7 Habits of Highly Effective People) was limited and I grew to be quite content with that.

4. If I keep this perspective what positive will it do?

I had to challenge my mindset. I was frustrated, but realized that there are people who would love to have my “bad” day, and that challenged my perspective. After saying that to myself I began to smile, and realized that it was really a very small matter. This person was not in my inner circle anyway and did not warrant such a huge response. My perspecitve changed and I had peace!

I am not sure what setbacks or challenging situations/people you are facing in life. But one thing I can guarantee you is that if you choose to you can overcome it. With the proper questions and help your pill will become much smaller and much more manageable to swallow and to overcome. It will either make you bitter or better, which pill will you choose?

Which pill will you swallow

***Please share with others, if you think it will help! Thanks for your time!

Be An ACTion HERO: 4 Simple Strategies to Transition from an Average Leader to a SUPER Successful One!

Justin — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 19:23:41 +0000

If you are like me then you have wondered what separates average leaders from the super successful one’s? I have discovered that it is not pedigree, nor is it something they are born with. After countless interviews and personal experience working for three Fortune 500 companies, managing a team of 50, and being a president of three campus organizations and a founder of two I want to share with you the secret strategies that the super successful leaders employ called the H.E.R.O Leadership Model. Go beyond the basics of leadership and ACT today to be a more effective leader!

All you have to do is …

—

Be Humble

This is a great leadership quality that is overlooked by most books, trainings, and speeches on leadership, as it is not generally considered a sexy leadership trait. We emulate the great scenes of leadership we have seen from the movies and from experience. They show us a leader that is sometimes domineering, maybe a great delegator, but usually in charge and in control all of the time. The great leaders can do all of these things, but they also possess great humility to know when to admit that they need help, when they have made a mistake, and when to share their weaknesses. People do not fully respect a leader who acts like they have arrived at perfection, but they do rally around ones that are progressing! Don’t be a “leader” everyone hates, but be one that people can tell is authentic!

Sample ACTions of Being Humble:

Do a monthly or quarterly assessment of yourself. It is a simple tool I call a Plus/Delta. Ask the people you are leading what you are doing well (Plus) and where you can improve or need to start doing (Delta). This is humbling, but can help you grow as a leader, because if you do not know what you are not doing well how will you ever improve and progress?
Realize that you do not know everything and go to conferences, read books, and even listen to your followers suggestions

Be Empowering

Do you want this to be the best year ever for your company or organization? Do you want people to look back at your years in leadership and remember how things used to be so great? I was like this too until I realized that this was not effective leadership, and two years after I left the organization died. What I realized is that I needed to empower others to take my place. What super successful leaders want is for the future year to be better than the last. Are you grooming the next generation of leaders in your organization or has it become all about you? Take a step back and realize that you do not need the spotlight all of the time, and if you start sharing it now others may be equipped to take the torch of leadership after you have been long gone!

Sample ACTions of Being Empowering:

Don’t just delegate the things that you do not want to do, but sometimes you might want to delegate the “sexy” stuff and your members will appreciate you for it! Make sure you give credit where credit is due and recognize your members.
Create a transition plan where you share the knowledge both tangible and intangible that you have gained as a leader. Help them to be better than you, by sharing both your successes and your failures.

Be Relational

Do you know your members? Many leaders treat their members as robots and just objects to accomplish their vision and goals, but when you are relational you really get to know them. Do you know why your members joined your company, organization, or department in the first place? Some may have joined because it is their passion, others for the paycheck, and others out of a sincere interest. If you do not know then you might not be showing them that you care about them as a person. When people really know that you care about them they tend to be better members! If you do not know where your members want to go or gain within your organization how will you ever help them get there?

Sample ACTions of Being Relational

Ask the people who are following you why they joined, and help to make sure they accomplish it. After all, in humility you realize it is not all about your vision.
Get to know your members and maybe just hang out and talk non-business in order to better understand them as a person. You just might find out you actually like them J

Be Optimistic

I am not talking about the hocus pocus of everything is all right, and looking in the mirror and telling yourself that you were made for today. What I am saying is that your attitude affects how your members approach things. If you are in a pressure situation or have received bad news, your members are watching you and will wait to see how you respond. If you respond with negativity then your members might do the same. Keep the proper perspective and remember that there are people who would love to have your bad days, so challenge your perception and champion your perspective.

Sample ACTions of Being Optimistic

Catch your members doing things right. Horrible leaders focus on only the negative things, but people actually do like to be recognized for the right that they do.
If you have a challenging member, take some time out to figure out what is going on with them and try to help them through it. They will remember that you were willing to fight for them!

With these simple yet powerful strategies you can start being a HERO in your company, on your campus, and in your organization and for the rest of your life. Will you apply ACTion or just be an average leader. The choice is yours!

Justin has great strategies for leadership and overall life success. He speaks on a variety of topics but always challenges individuals to Amazing ACTion!

Check out www.justininspires.comto see all of Justin’s keynotes.

*Photo courtesy of CAMPUSPEAK (www.campuspeak.com)

The New Justin Inspires Website

Justin — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 02:36:23 +0000

Welcome to the New Justin Inspires Website courtesy of Emerge Web Studio! I am so honored to present the new site to you and to inform you of all the new and exciting features. Please review the following to learn more information about me, the company, and our overall mission!

Welcome to the “EXPERIENCE!”

Why Justin: See more information about me, my clients, see videos, and hear what others have to say about their Justin Inspires Experience!

Programs: See what all the BUZZ is all about. See some of the most dynamic, high energy, and practical presentations and workshops designed with the audience in the mind!!!

Where is Justin: You can see my current calendar that fortunately is filling up pretty fast. Also hear me on the radio whether it is my Leadership in 60′s, my radio show, or my contributions to the nationally syndicated “The Takeaway”

Store: You can Purchase my Book and soon to come DVD “Inspiration for LIFE: Dream Bigger, Do More, Live Fuller!” It will challenge you to put your life into proACTive ACTion! If you are reading this use the promo code “justininspires” (all one word) to receive 10% off your order!

Blog: This one should be obvious as you are reading it now!!! But join the blog list to be alerted when there is a new video blog post out. These will be fun, informative, and helpful all at the same time!

Contact: Let me know if you have any questions or comments! It is always great to receive feedback!

Invite Justin: This is my personal favorite as this allows me to share my passion with so many others. Invite me to your event, school, company, organization, or church today…but only if you want a high-energy, practical, information packed, laughter filled experience! See some of the videos to see why!

New Post October 2, 2010

Justin — Tue, 18 May 2010 00:09:23 +0000

Hey there, please come back on October 2, 2010 for a new post and you can see what the new posts are all about. They will definitely be interactive, fun, and

valuable for leading people, groups, and organizations toward greater ACTion! Stay tuned!