WORDS TO LEAD BY - Self-___

We are continuing our lessons from Wall Adamchik's book titled Construction Leadership from A to Z.

His book explores "26 Words to Lead By."

This session's word is SELF-___

SELF-___

Self-knowledge - having knowledge; conscious; cognizant; informed; alert

"Self-knowledge and self-improvement are very difficult for most people. It usually needs great courage and long struggle." - Abraham Maslow

It all starts with self-awareness

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Sun Tzu wrote, "If you know the enemy and know yourself, you will win a hundred battles."

But why face your demons, fears and flaws when you can just as easily deny them? Because in facing them, you can conquer them - and know that conquering a fear is sometimes not ridding yourself of it. Philosopher Lao Tzu said, "Knowing others is intelligence. Knowing oneself is true wisdom."

When we have self-awareness, we can begin to develop self-esteem

With that said, I prefer the two-pronged definition of self-esteem being comprised of self-respect (i.e. "I have value as a person") and self-efficacy (i.e. "I am capable and competent in my ability to think, decide and act").

Self-esteem leads to self-confidence, that quality that organizes all our efforts and unifies them toward achievement of some great goal. Self-confidence instills in us the belief that we really can get what we want.

Unfortunately, self-esteem and all that stems from it is perishable. You must nourish and feed it. Words, deeds, articles, experience, positive self-talk - all must be put to work to keep your self-esteem oriented toward the positive. And do not forget that the biggest impact on your self-esteem is your own self-talk. Be sure to make it positive.

John Wooden said, "Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are while your reputation is merely what others think you are." Concern yourself with protecting your self-esteem and your character will take care of itself.

"The better you know and understand yourself, the better decisions you will make and the better results you will get." - Brian Tracy

Self-___ Jumpstart:

• Spend time with people who like you and care about you.
• Ignore (and stay away from) people who put you down or treat you badly.
• Do things that you enjoy or that make you feel good.
• Do things you are good at; reward yourself for your successes.
• Always do what you believe is right; be true to yourself and your values.

Self-doubt, self-conscious, self-loathing, self-pity and self-(add any negative word you wish to use) are part of us and therefore cannot be denied or ignored. However, we cannot dwell on these self-destructive thoughts. We need to recognize and acknowledge our shortcomings, and then move on.

Move on to pursue and embrace our self-confidence, self-awareness, self-loving, self-worth and self-(add every positive word you can think of).

As John C. Maxwell says, "You will never change your life until you change something you do daily." Let's choose to know our "self" today and every day!

Donald G Rosenbarger
Senior Vice President
Delta Companies Inc