#5 What is self-leadership?
Self Leadership Series – Part 1 #5
This post defines self-leadership as being both a choice and a practice which helps us to honour ourselves and engage more consciously in life. This in turn positions us well to positively influence our own lives and the wider eco-systems of which we are a part.
Every thought we have, decision we make and action we take either moves us toward the life we want to live or away from it. Each of our decisions and actions are also either helpful or harmful (directly or indirectly) not only to ourselves but to the wider eco-systems of which we are a part.
Think about that for a moment. Sounds simple enough doesn’t it?
The truth is however, when we are moving at breakneck speed through our days and weeks, we can lose sight of this ‘simple’ map. We can find ourselves making decisions and choices that are misaligned to who we really are and the things that matter most.
Enter self-leadership.
What is self-leadership?
Self-leadership is a choice that we make and a practice that we enact to honour ourselves and to engage consciously in life. This is done with an intention to learn and grow and to positively impact self, others, and the broader systems of which we are a part.
Self- leadership is not passive, it is active. It requires us to bring attention to both our internal and external realities. It involves us making a conscious choice to attend to self-leadership and to find our own way of practicing it in our daily lives.
Through a commitment to self-leadership we move through life with greater levels of awareness and are better equipped to respond rather than to react to what life presents to us. Overtime and with ongoing attention, the practice of self-leadership helps us to peel away the layers of our social conditioning, re-discover our own true nature and become the author of our own reality.
Who does it apply to?
Self-leadership applies to all people. It doesn’t just sit in the domain of people who are in formal ‘leadership roles’ (where it clearly sits the heart of great leadership) Why? Because collectively as humans we have (mostly) been educated and socialised in a way that detracts from rather than enhances our connection with our own true nature. This needs to change!
A focus on self-leadership puts us on the path where we can begin to do this – to peel back these layers of social conditioning and begin to re-claim the powerful and unique beings that we are.
When we practice self-leadership, we are consciously choosing to live and lead our lives with growing awareness about ourselves and the environment in which we operate. This positions us well to positively influence our own lives and the wider eco-systems of which we are a part.
Getting started
Making the choice to attend to self-leadership is the first step. The next step is knowing what to focus on and how to go about it in every day.
This is where the final three posts in this series are designed to help!
The next post in this series will introduce you to the concept of ‘mental real estate’. It will invite you to reflect on how you are currently allocating your ‘mental real estate’ as a way of bringing attention to what might need to change.
This post is an excerpt from my draft book Activating Self Leadership.
