Definiteness of Plans and Self-Control Emerge

That registered letter detailing the impending foreclosure wasn’t just another financial kick in the gut, it hit my self-image every bit as hard. To everyone else, things still looked great. We both had more career advancement opportunities than many of our peers and our MLM business was getting all kinds of recognition, locally and regionally. None of that was coincidence, we were working as hard as we knew how every single minute of every day. But for us, the mirage of getting ahead faded significantly when we read that freaking letter from the wonderful folks at Wells Fargo. While it was nowhere close to as refined as it is today, having a clear purpose may well be the only thing that kept us pushing forward.

I’d love to tell you that I had the self-control back then to have prevented me from doing something reckless; hence my previous comment, “Praise God it came from an office in Iowa and not somewhere I could afford to drive to…” As I’ve suggested throughout this look at making the best of our bad situations, though, each adversity we face can serve as a building block for being more equipped to handle the next IF we’re willing to find the seed or equal or greater benefit that lies within it. When we do find that seed, and we’re willing to nurture it with everything in our power, we have a shot of developing each of the leadership attributes we’ve looked at so far.

For me, self-control has been something that’s grown over time. Without some of the earliest minor adversities, there’s no way I could have maintained the self-control necessary to push forward. Without those early career stumbles, as insignificant as they were in the grand scheme of things, and without experiencing the unexpected storm of a child’s health scare, I don’t know that I would have been able to drum up enough self-control to put the mental or emotional energy into mapping out the definite plans we would need. But building on those earliest adversities, scarcity did indeed forge the attributes I needed so desperately.

Make no mistake, the grind of scarcity doesn’t just test us. It forges the exact leadership traits that can (if we allow it) turn personal hardship into profitable influence. For me, and for everyone I’ve seen fight through similar adversities, purpose clarifies fastest when resources are scarcest. The influence required to truly lead emerges when we stop wishing for better circumstances and start planning how we can create them. We’ll look at how purpose is found in the grind next. Right now, I want you to assess one recent decision where you wavered - and identify one concrete step to strengthen your definiteness of plans within the next month.