Lift The Lid

Somewhere today a young person is working hard at their desk, hoping to be considered for a promotion.

Somewhere today an older person thinks about their looming retirement and hopes to find something productive to do with their next phase of life.

Somewhere today, hundreds of thousands of people, young and old, dream of a different set of circumstances for their lives because deep down inside they believe they are meant for more.

That’s today.

But what about tomorrow?

How many of those people will go right back to the same desk with those same hopes in the same circumstances, and think the same thoughts all over again?

My friend, that is the great tragedy of so many—repeating the same habits every day but hoping for a different outcome. The truth is that nothing in your life changes until you do. You have to act on your desire to be different. You have to make a move that alters your tomorrow.

In my book, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, the very first law is called The Law of the Lid. Every one of us has a lid on our potential that is only lifted by our willingness to learn how to lead. When we take intentional action towards becoming a leader, we see the lid lifted off ourselves and what we can become.

Is it possible to grow without becoming a leader? Yes, it is.

Is it possible to become successful without becoming a leader? Yes, it is.

Is it possible to reach your full potential without becoming a leader? No, it is not, and here’s why:

Anything significant that you want to achieve will require the help of someone else. If you want others to help you, you’ve got to be able to influence them to join your cause. And the influence that you need to develop is cultivated through leadership ability.

Leadership ability is learning how to inspire other people. It’s learning to cast a vision for a better tomorrow. It’s about serving people well, so they feel valued and seen. It’s about helping other people make a difference in their lives, homes, and communities because it’s the right thing to do.

And it’s something that anyone can do.

The young person just getting started in career. The older person whose career is coming to an end. The people who dream and the people who drive, the poets and planners and possibility seekers.

We live in a world that needs more from you. We need you to lead. We need you to look at the world as it is and see the world as it could be and then take action to make that better world a reality.

You’ll need to challenge yourself to read, to think, to write, to learn, to do something that makes you better tomorrow than you are today. Because that is the price that leaders pay, and while it sounds huge, it’s really not.

It’s just a little bit more than you did today.

You have that little bit more in you. I know you do because I have seen thousands of others like you who decided that one more step was worth it. They chose to take that step for themselves, for their families, or for people they’ve never even met. They chose to take that step because they wanted things to be different for them.

I’ve seen them go from timid followers to bold leaders because the commitment to what was inside them inspired a passion to ignite that hope in others.

That can be you. Take one intentional step today that will stretch you, challenge you, and make you a different person tomorrow. 

Your time is now. And I’m cheering you on.