We are building a world of quitters. The resilience needed to help us reach our full potential is lacking. Individuals have become so discouraged that they just give up when it’s time to work through situations that are difficult or uncomfortable. We’re failing at accomplishing our goals by taking the easy way out.

There is a massive lack of personal accountability in the world today. The constant beatdown from negativity of social and mainstream media, civil unrest, pandemic living and more tends to filter into our personal lives, allowing anxiety, stress, and depression to run rampant. When we carry feelings of low self-worth and esteem, it creates a lack of consistency and inability to follow through. However, personal accountability is the key to crushing your goals.

A sense of urgency is what propels an idea into an achievement. It is what inspires people to be
productive and to create. It is what motivates highly successful people who are focused on being their best selves, having the drive needed to believe in themselves and see their goals all the way through. Time is our most valuable commodity. Knowing this, we should do everything in our power to not waste it by adopting a sense of urgency.

Rollercoasters: I love them. Stepping off the new Jurassic World VelociCoaster recently, I felt strong, invigorated, as if I’d “conquered” something bigger than me, and eager to go again. Boarding an emotional roller coaster is an entirely different thing. We’re not necessarily wired, willing or braced for psychological whiplash. Stepping away from an emotional rollercoaster, we typically feel confused, undermined, destabilized, beaten up, and eager to mentally and/or physically quit. Great leaders are strong in Emotional Leadership. People follow them because they want to, not because they feel trapped. What kind of ride are you engineering?

When I talk about balance in life, I’m referring to an ongoing investment in strength and readiness across a broad enough base to keep me stable, grounded and positive through all the ups and downs of life. I build this stability by a reasonably equal distribution of focus and attention within all areas of what I refer to as the Pentagon of Peak Performance, one of which is Mental Leadership. The demands of leadership can be relentless. Great leaders are highly effective in part because they constantly flex their mental muscles in pursuit of knowledge, wisdom and intellectual growth.