If we become aware of what's happening before we act, behaviour becomes a function of choice rather than a result of an impulse or trigger. You begin to control your world more as opposed to the outside world controlling you.
Interpretation
Awareness allows us to make intentional choices rather than react impulsively.
This quote by Marshall Goldsmith emphasizes the importance of self-awareness in our actions. When we are conscious of our thoughts and feelings before we respond, we empower ourselves to make deliberate choices instead of allowing impulses to dictate our behavior. By cultivating this awareness, we can take control of our lives and influence our surroundings positively, rather than being at the mercy of external circumstances.
In practice
During a leadership workshop discussing emotional intelligence, this quote can illustrate the importance of self-regulation.
Active questions are the alternative to passive questions. There is a huge difference between, 'Do you have clear goals?' and 'Did you do your best to set clear goals for yourself?' The former is trying to determine the employee's state of mind; the latter challenges the employee to describe or defend a course of action.
Treat every piece of advice as a gift or a compliment and simply say, “Thank you.
The only thing I don't think people don't understand about good leaders is that they're both good and lucky. A lot of it is timing.
Life is short. Do whatever you can to help people - not for status, but because the 95-year-old you will be proud if you did help people and disappointed if you didn't.
A leader who is self-aware enough to know that he or she is not adept at everything is one who has taken the first step toward being a great leader.
One of the most important actions, things a leader can do, is to lead by example. If you want everyone else to be passionate, committed, dedicated, and motivated, you go first!
There are different wells within your heart. Some fill with each good rain, Others are far too deep for that.
I've found that the chief difficulty for most people was to realize that they had really heard new things: that is things that they had never heard before. They kept translating what they heard into their habitual language. They had ceased to hope and believe there might be anything new.
Sometimes we hear it said that ten minutes on your knees will give you a truer, deeper, more operative knowledge of God than ten hours over your books. What! Than ten hours over your books on your knees?
Endure the present, and watch for better things.
Speak what I want, I don't care what y'all feel. 'Cause I'm my own master, my Pop told me be your own boss. Keep integrity at every cost.
Your future isn't programmed by your past; it's programmed by your thoughts.
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