W.I.N. Wednesday: When all is said and done.
I have the privilege of teaching a 4-hour Dare to Be Great leadership workshop and an 8-hour Excellence in Training workshop at the National Tactical Officers Association (NTOA) conference this week in Milwaukee. I always come to the conference early so I can attend a few of the classes and debriefs and I always attend the opening ceremonies as they have a great speaker every year. This year’s Opening Ceremonies speaker was Rob Weinhold. He closed his presentation with the following quote: “When all is said and done, what do you want to have said and done?”
Reflect on that for a moment, “When all is said and done, what do you want to have said and done?” The power of this for me is that it forces me to reflect on the end of my career and the end of life, whenever that may come. When that time comes and you reflect on your life, what do you want to have said and done? Are you going to be reflecting on all the coulda, woulda, and shouldas or are you going to be at peace with what you have said and done?
Reflecting on this question will provide some clarity on where you are going and the use of Life’s Most Powerful Question – What’s Important Now? will serve as a guide along the journey from where you are to where you are going. That journey ideally will be about living a life of significance, and not one of trying to live up to other people’s definition of “success”. It will be about impact. It will be about punching mediocrity in the mouth and striving for excellence. It will be about learning and growth. It will be about doing what is right when it is not what’s popular, easy, or expedient. It will be about Embracing the Struggle, Embracing the Suck, Looking for the Learning, Looking for the Good and Daring to Be Great. It is about being true to your values and principles.
This is why former NFL player and author of InsideOut Coaching: How Sports Can Transform Lives Joe Ehrmann used to have all the seniors on the high school football team he coached write an essay at the end of the year on, “How I want to be remembered when I die.” After going through the exercise of reflection and writing each of them then read that essay to the entire team, and later to the entire school assembly, to create accountability partners as they navigate the challenges of life.
What’s Important Now? When all is said and done, what do you want to have said and done? Live accordingly.
Take care.
Brian Willis
www.lifesmostpowerfulquestion.com.
ONE QUESTION BRINGING FOCUS AND CLARITY IN THE CHAOS AND COMPLEXITY OF TODAY'S WORLD.
If you found value in this post, please share this with your friends, family and co-workers.
