It Only Takes 8 Minutes

I experienced the most painful thing in my life 5 weeks ago. My grandmother Esmeralda Keane passed away.

Aside that I never had to deal with the loss of a loved one, my grandmother was the only person around that allowed me to feel like my colorful personality actually belonged in this family.

I often joked to my dad about how my more straight-laced older brother and sister were cut from the same cloth; but that I was cut from a very different cloth purchased from a different store in a different country.

My grandmother saw to it that my opinions were regarded with the same level of importance as everyone else. She looked after me well.

I loved her very much and I will miss her greatly.

Celebrate Life

The assurance of knowing completely that my grandmother knew I loved her before she closed her eyes one last time absorbs the pain of her physical absence. With this assurance, I decided NOT to attend her funeral (or “home going celebration”-as we call it in my community).

While it may appear complex on the outside, the decision for me to not attend her funeral was simple.

My theory is that funerals are not about the person who has passed; it is about the mourners and grievers.  And I was okay with where she was going, so I did not feel a need to be there.

Everyone has a different grieving process. My process consists of doing things and being in places that will help me move forward with the goals that my grandmother supported me in. My grandmother was all about moving forward and not participating in things that would delay that process.

Furthermore, I did not want to subject myself to people who decided to give my grandmother roses when she could no longer smell them.

Rather than going to the funeral, I decided to attend a leadership convention that I was already registered for. While it was difficult to make the decision not to grieve with my father, brother, sister, aunt and uncle, I also realized that I was responsible for assisting myself in getting through a difficult time.

Looking back on that decision, it was one of the best decisions that I could have made for myself during that time.

The Leadership Training

Although the speakers at the seminar like Darren Hardy, publisher of the Success magazine and billionaire entrepreneur Donald J. Trump spoke for great lengths, the training that changed my life completely was only 8-minutes long.

Upon hearing that short lesson, my life immediately changed.

This concise training focused on the necessary tools needed to achieve personal success within a telecom franchise. I adopted the concept from the training and tailored it to be more applicable to my personal life.

Passion and Purpose and Pass It On

These are the three big concepts that I took in those 8-minutes that changed my perspective and my life:

• Discover your “what”
• Develop your passion
• Duplicate what you’ve learned

We were not put on earth to be unhappy, work at a mundane job day in and out and go home to mediocrity. We were created in excellence, born in magnificence so that we could produce greatness and our greatness lies in our passion.

Discover Your What

For a long time, I allowed my fear of my large-scale thinking to paralyze me from walking into my destiny. The reality is that I am a leader, whether I am prepared or not. That is who I am designed to be. It is up to me whether I’m going to be a good leader or a bad one.

I made the decision in 8 minutes that I would commit every day to discovering more aspects about myself.

Committing to consistently discovering your “what” prevents the feeling of plateau, or stagnation, and empowers you to become fearless. It is impossible to arrive at a destination that is always evolving.

Go for it! You’re worth it!

Develop Your Passion

See the opportunity in every experience to develop your passion, whether the opportunity is directly related to your passion or not. Whether we realize it or not, we are always engaging in opportunities that facilitate learning experiences-both good and bad.

The secret is, often times we are more likely to identify the good learning experiences and not the bad ones.

John C. Maxwell, author of the book Failing Forward: Turning mistakes into stepping-stones for success writes this:

“The difference between average people and achieving people is their perception of and their response to failure.”

Achievers recognize that failure is part of the journey of achieving personal success and to seek opportunities that will allow them to fail forward.

Duplicate What You’ve Learned

Lastly, duplicate what you’ve learned and developed in somebody else. It is important that we discover and develop our passion so that we can achieve personal success and live the life we are destined to live.

We are all leaders in our own right and it is our responsibility to duplicate leaders with pure heart and a positive mindset. Our future depends on it.

In doing some research behind the significance of the number 8, I found that some people believe that the number 8 is symbolic of new beginnings. Whether or not it is a coincidence that the training that changed my life was only 8 minutes or not, the message is applicable. We can decide to create a new beginning for ourselves in only 8 minutes.

Remember, we were created in excellence, born in magnificence so that we could produce greatness and our greatness lies in our passion.

My Motto: Each One Teach Four

So what have you learned in a short segment that has  changed your outlook on life? How have you made personal sacrifices to step out in faith and move forward toward your goals? How can you take what you have learned and pass it on to others to help them learn, grow, and build other leaders? I would love to hear your stories!

——————–
Rachel (Ziva) Deleveaux is a consulting Leadership Development Specialist
She helps with Personal, Prof and Org Development & Team Building Workshops
Email | LinkedIn | Facebook | 1-888-394-4102

Image Source: tommyland, darrenhardy.typepad.com