Happy New Year! As we look forward to the fresh, clean sheet of paper that is the “new year,” it is inevitable that we are going to set audacious goals for ourselves. Everyone does. I encourage you to make sure to set goals for your physical and emotional well-being as well.
Using an automobile analogy for a moment: It doesn’t matter how beautiful and sexy a car is, how quickly it will travel from naught to sixty, how rugged or how much cargo space it has. If the fuel tank (or battery for EVs) is empty, the car is going nowhere. If you want to enjoy driving around in that beautiful, sleek, fast (or solid and dependable) vehicle, you have to make sure the fuel tank is full!
So it is with each of us as human beings and leaders. You can’t give out of an empty tank. Make it a priority to take time every day to refill your own tank. No one is going to refill your tank but you. This may come in the form of your devotion time. This may involve quiet meditation. Maybe it would be communing with nature or taking half an hour to read something positive and edifying. Perhaps you enjoy gardening or curling up with your dog in the hammock and enjoying the moment.
Every organized religion that I have studied in my life (and I have studied quite a few before I came to the faith decision I made for myself) confers a benefit for taking time out daily with the Creator (however you perceive that Creator). Don’t shortchange yourself of that benefit.
You may think you don’t have time to do this. I tell myself that a LOT. I think it may surprise you to discover how much more productive you can be if you are functioning on a full tank. Take time to refill your own tank. Write it into your plan for the new year. You are worth it.
Read Lauren’s Whitepaper on The Nine Essentials of Significant Leadership.
