(Con)Fusing Life, Leadership and Business

(Yes. This is my question to you! Can you take some time and answer it before you finish this book?)

Maya Angelou once said “If you are always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be.” People have a hard time finding their direction in life and career. Life is complex. This complexity is reflected in all the statements you have read in this book. Each topic can be seen from countless angles. Making sense out of life is tough business. Society by its own perceptions and boundaries wants us to fit in a certain category. What happens though when your own definition of who you are or what you stand for does not match the definition society has bestowed upon you? Who wins then? Who defines you? Who has the last word? Whose truth is most likely to determine your future life and career? The answer is pretty simple. The definition that you choose to believe wins. Our worldviews, habits, goals, career paths and life choices depend on this very definition. Therefore, it’s crucial that you get it right. Fulfillment is not a destination. It’s a by-product of right choices. The result of aligning your goals with your natural talents and inclinations. People who don’t have goals work for people who do.

Defining yourself outside of the realms of society is tough. It is hard to recognize when one’s choices and direction are being influenced by others’ definition of who they should be, what kind of career they should be pursuing, and what kind of existence they should be leading. Every single quote is a possible life stance. Have you decided on yours yet? Through reading Power Quotes you must have come across a number of statements that made you tick. Quotes that made you pause and reflect to what extent they do or could possibly apply to your specific life circumstances. These quotes are the ones you should be adding on your desktop wallpaper, your phone and calendar to keep yourself motivated every day or whenever you feel you need a generous amount of self-motivation. Pick a quote and make it your tagline for the day, week or month. Changing the world requires a change of perspective. Most importantly, changing the world requires that you change your illusions. Ultimately, your life is what you think you should be. That’s what you are right now. You are what you thought you should be. Your thoughts are as important as your actions. We live in challenging, rapidly changing and delicate times. It is now more important than ever that our minds, our inner worlds expand at the same pace as the outer world. It is time for atonement. It is time for radical change. Embrace it. Lead it.

I believe that each one of us is equipped with the necessary tools to overcome our own limits. How early on in life these tools will be discovered and used depends on the particular circumstances one is born in and the amount of challenges they are willing to take in life. As a quote by an unknown author goes “If you do not dare to imagine and build a better life for yourself, you will have the life you deserve.” I hope that the quotes you read inspired you and most importantly I hope that they shook you up enough. I also hope that you felt the urge to act. Don’t wait. Don’t procrastinate. Some quotes have resonated with you more than others. I do hope that you noted them down. Make them your personal mantra. Live by them and share them.

It is for the sake of clarity that I decided to divide this book into three main sections and treat each one of them separately. However, I would not have included these three apparently distinct areas of life in a same volume if no convergence was possible. Many topics of these three main areas certainly overlap but what is interesting to notice is their point of convergence, their area of fusion. It might sound evident that Life rules can be applied to Business and Leadership and this can function the other way around of course. People tend to separate different areas of their life. They regard work as a separate area. Their personal life being another. I am far from being a centenarian but what life has taught me so far is that all these three areas complement each other and function like communicating vessels. It has also taught me that focused efforts and smart work in any one of these areas—be it Life, Leadership, or Business—can produce results in all three of them.

I have encountered countless successful professionals who lead guilt-rotten lives because they invest all their waking time in their careers and feel that they cannot reap the benefits of this investment in other parts of their life. Be a multitude of people. That’s what makes you unique as a professional, a friend, a lover, a parent. You don’t have to perceive dedication to your career goals and ambitions as an enemy to your personal life. Mix them all. Combine all three areas of your life in a way that works best for you. Master the art of congruent living. Seduce people through your work, your mind, your character, your unique combination of skills and talents. Your personality, your very being is instilled in every bit of the work your produce. It is present in all the projects you get involved in. As a Buddhist proverb goes “To know and not to do...is not to know.” It is now time that you get out there and live at the fullest, merging Life, Business and Leadership, mixing vocation and profession. This holistic approach to personal growth will help you invest time, energy, and effort in one area while reaping results in all three.