“We cannot recover yesterday but tomorrow is ours to win or lose.”

A thought by John C. Maxwell from his book, Leadershift (p. 13). HarperCollins Leadership. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

Yes, tomorrow is ours, isn’t it?

John says, “Leaders have a natural bias toward action. They have to be proactive today for the sake of tomorrow. However, the longevity of their leadership is determined by how they think and see the future. Staying ahead of the team comes from thinking ahead of the team. If you think ahead, you can stay ahead. As political columnist George Will said, ‘The future has a way of arriving unannounced.’ We cannot recover yesterday but tomorrow is ours to win or lose.

“How can we do that as leaders? What can we do today to ensure we have what we need to lead tomorrow? We have to practice what I call advance attraction, which I discovered in the 1980s. I concluded that I could experience a positive future only if I had a good dream and a good team. At that time, my dream excited me, but my team did not. How was I going to attract the team I needed to fulfill my dream?

He goes on, “When you become aware of what you need or want, you’re better able to see it—and attract it. If you think about blue, you will see blue everywhere you look. If you start noticing blue, you will see even more blue. What you focus on expands. Awareness allows you to bring into your future the people and resources you need. It enables you to lead your life instead of merely accepting it.

“Being unaware has exactly the opposite effect. Unawareness lets you see nothing, attract nothing, and receive nothing that will enhance your future. Leaders who are unaware wonder why they don’t have access to the resources they need to ensure a better tomorrow. They cannot leadershift; their tomorrow will not be any better than their today.

He continues, “Going back to what I did in the eighties, the first step toward getting a better team for the future was to know what I wanted and needed. I started by writing down the qualities of the team I wanted to have. This developed an increased awareness in me that promoted advance attraction. Here’s how this works.

            “When you know who you are and you know what you want, you then know the kind of people you will attract, and the things you will discover.

            Your mind will think things that will help you get what you want.

            Your eyes will see things that will help you get what you want.

            Your heart will feel things that will help you get what you want.

            Your attitude will believe things that will help you get what you want.

            Your mouth will say things that will help you get what you want.

            Your actions will attract things that will help you get what you want.”

John then says, “As I attracted and discovered the kinds of team members I needed to realize my dream, I began to experience positive results. Today I’m abundantly reaping the benefits of this leadershift.”

And I believe, don’t you that we too will reap the benefits if we are aware? 

Yes, yes