Take the Helm

Here is the next post from the Launching Leaders program. I know that it's 2 in one day, but I didn't have the idea of blogging these until today!

In order to be successful, you need to know the difference between being proactive and reactive. We have been raised all our lives to be reactive, for example, your mother tells you to clear your plate, so you go clear your plate, or your teacher tells you to write an essay, so you go write that essay. You can get along just fine in life doing that, but in order to really be successful you need to be proactive. Do things because you want to, not because anybody tells you to. Become what you want to become.

Part of becoming proactive and successful is creating a plan. Elder Ritchie says take a few minutes out of every day to make a plan. It doesn't have to be elaborate, just make a list of what you would do if the day turned out just the way you wanted it to. After you've made this list, mark next to each item an A, B, or C. A is for things that absolutely must be done that day. B is for things that would be good to do, but are not absolutely essential, and C is for things that would be nice to do, but don't really matter all that much. I'll make an example list briefly for my day today:

• Go to work - A
• Deposit my paycheck in the bank - B
• Do laundry - B
• Clean up my bedroom - B
• Go to my friend's house for a get-together with some of our high school friends - B
• Check Facebook - C
• Update my blog - C
• Scripture study - A

There's more that I could put on that list, but that's probably good for now. So far today I've only done my C things on my list, so that's probably not too good. Those should usually be last, if you've done everything else on the list.

Another piece of advice that Elder Ritchie gave us was to draft yourself a personal Constitution. To begin, identify your values. These begin with the statement "I am." Then you need to prioritize your values so that the most important ones to you are first. He also talked of the importance about closing the gap between your stated values and how you really live your life. He has seen people who put the value "I am a loving father and husband" before their value "I work hard and am financially independent" but then these people spend all their time at work making money, and not enough time with their families. Writing and prioritizing your values is a good way to discover any gaps and attempt to fix them. Next, in the steps to write your Constitution is to establish your goals. Write things like "I will (insert goal here) by the time I'm 35" or "I will (insert goal here) when I get each paycheck." After you establish your goals, you need to use your values and goals to determine how you will accomplish your goals for today. This goes back to making the plans daily. Your values should reflect in your list. Ultimately, using your Constitution and your Plans you should be able to determine what you want to become in life and be set on a good path to take you there.

Elder Ritchie did give us a warning though. He said not to get stuck in your comfort zone. He compared your comfort zone to being a bouncy ball stuck in a cone. All that the bouncy ball has to do in its life to become successful is to bounce around. If you drop a bouncy ball in a cone, then it will bounce a few times, but then eventually come to a rest and stop bouncing as it settles into the cone. This is like us. We have things that we need to do to become successful, and if we settle in a comfort zone we may say that we're still making progress so it can't be that bad, but eventually we will come to a rest and stop progressing. Don't be distracted by unproductive things like too much Facebook, or Pinterest, or TV shows or video games. There are even other things that can be distracting and may hinder your progression even if it seems like you are still progressing. You need to continuously set goals for yourself to avoid being stuck in a comfort zone or to get out of a comfort zone that you are stuck in.

When you take control of your own life, then you can steer yourself wherever you may want to go to become successful in life. Time is a series of continuous events that you need to manage well in order to be successful.

The Secret to Success

I have the opportunity to attend a series of seminars given by Elder and Sister Ritchie called "Launching Leaders." They have a lot of great advice about how to be successful in life. As part of their teaching, they have suggested that we take notes, review those notes, and then share what we have learned with others. I think blogging what I have learned is a good way to review and share what I have learned.

First of all, the promises of what will happen if you follow everything in the Launching Leaders program are:
1. You will have increased productivity
2. You will have a higher self-esteem
3. You will be happier

We also learned the formula for success. To do this we looked at advice given by J. Paul Getty, the founder of Getty Oil who made billions of dollars, as well as advice given to Elder Ritchie from the LDS apostle David B Haight. When this advice is combined to make one list then that is the Formula for Success.

1. Get up early. This means like when the sun is rising, not what feels early to you. Elder Ritchie suggested that "early" should be between 5:30 and 6:30 a.m. I'll have to work on this one a little bit, because I do love sleeping in, but I know I am definitely more productive when I wake up earlier.

2. Work hard. This one should be pretty self-explanatory. You won't get anywhere if you only give a small effort into what you're doing

3. Get your education. This doesn't necessarily mean you have to go to years and years of college to get a certain degree. It could be college, or it could be whatever training you need to do what you want to do in life.

4. Find your oil. You do not literally have to find oil, but find something that people will come to you for. J Paul Getty became so successful because people wanted the goods he had to offer, which in his case was oil. Find something you can make or do that people will want to come to you for.

5. Make your mark. Get your name out there, become known. Leave some impression of yourself, some way for people to remember you.

6. Be prepared to serve. Elder Ritchie says that this step is the most important out of the six steps in the Formula for Success. So many times people will follow the above 5 steps then find themselves rich and successful but then they become prideful and arrogant. This always becomes your downfall. You need to have the intent to give back to the world in some way. Use your success to somehow make the world a better place.


I am so glad that I have been able to have the opportunity to attend this series of lectures and I will post more after each lecture that I go to!