Journey of Excellence

Now that we are midway through our first year of your “Journey of Excellence” I’d like each of you to reflect upon the lessons you’ve learned, challenges and struggles you’ve faced, ways in which you’ve been impacted, and how embarking on this journey has changed your life for the better as well as your definition for what it means to be a champion – a “Man or Woman of Influence.” Please reply with a response of at least 3 paragraphs or more. As you write, review and reflect upon your books and reviews, workshop notes, experiences you’ve had and lessons you’ve learned during the School vs. School Competition, Camp Strength, James Project, Mountain Retreat, training sessions, interacting with the team, mentoring sessions, and anything else that was of significance to you during our first 6 months. Also, include a focused paragraph stating how you have already or plan to transfer these lessons into your everyday lives on and off the athletic field.

The goals of this are for you to draw out the most significant points on the journey for you thus far, and lock-in on them in terms of DAILY application as we move forward. In addition, this allows you to speak life into our team as we prepare for our next 6-months, encourage each other, and come shoulder-to-shoulder in pursuit of a new level of excellence – share your hearts, and “spur” one another forward as champions. 2011-2012 school year is going to be a powerful year in your districts…

Thanks to each of you for traveling with us this far, and for making the first 6-months what they have been. You are all warriors in my book, and I believe in and love each of you. Kia-Kaha!

For those of you who participated in the James Project, please reflect on the primary lessons you learned that week (Note: If you are using this as one of your Community Service Projects, this can count as your reflection as well). You can discuss lessons you learned about loving others despite imperfections, living lives of selflessness and servanthood, encouraging and coming alongside each other as wingmen and women, setting your feet upon a rock, etc – along with any other significant points from that week that impacted you as a leader and “Man or Woman of Influence.” Also, include a focused discussion on how you plan (or already have) to take the lessons from that week and apply them to your everyday lives on the athletic fields, hallways and locker rooms, in the community and your homes, etc.

For those of you who were team captains or actively involved in forming teams for the School vs. School Tournament, I’d like you to post a reflection on the leadership lessons you learned leading up to and during the tournament (Note: this can serve as your reflection for those of you using this as one of your Leadership Development Projects). Discuss what you learned about servant leadership, successes and failures you went through organizing / recruiting your teams and competing that weekend, how you applied the leadership principles we’ve discussed (or how you will apply them in the future based upon lessons you learned), and anything else you learned that was significant to you through that experience. You can also include points on how you will carry those lessons into next school year with your teams, in the hallways, through your Power of One Clubs, etc.

Steve Jobs once said, “If you are working on something exciting that you really care about, you don’t have to be pushed – the vision pulls you!”

This quote is why true dreamers typically don’t need external motivation. Do they need Encouragement? Yes. Counsel and Advice? Yes. Coaching, Experience, someone to hold them Accountable at times? Yes. People to join them on the journey? Definitely. However, the Passion and Motivation to follow their dreams comes from within. Their vision calls them into a journey greater than themselves, and it challenges them to become more than they ever thought they could be. Does your dream do this to you? Are you compelled to follow it wherever the path may lead you?

There are few greater feelings than staring a seemingly insurmountable challenge straight in the face, and knowing deep down inside where only your innermost thoughts exist that you will be victorious -that you will do whatever it takes to overcome the obstacle standing before you. Why? Because that challenge represents the gap between where you currently are, and where you desire to be – it represents your dream. So, why embark on this journey when most others would quit, or not even start? It’s called passion, and an unrelenting commitment to never accept mediocrity…to never take the safe route, the comfortable path, or the road that is traveled by many. Dreamers don’t travel on paved roads – they create paths upon which others are inspired to follow because of their example.

It’s this passion that is a prerequisite to “owning your dream,” and that will give you the internal drive to step forward when no one else does. It’s this passion that will make you a champion, and inspire others to take that step when they previously wouldn’t. It’s this passion that calls you and your teammates to live at a higher standard, and reach heights you never thought possible. John Maxwell says, “People who achieve their dreams stand out. You cannot be part of the crowd, and achieve your dream at the same time (Put Your Dream to the Test, pg. 88).” Are you willing to take that first step? To be different? To stand out? How important is your dream to you? How important are your teammates? Because more often than not the best thing you can do as a leader is step out, raise the bar, and set the example for those who are willing to follow…

William Arthur Ward encourages leaders to:

• Believe while others are doubting
• Plan while others are playing.
• Study while others are sleeping.
• Decide while others are delaying.
• Prepare while others are daydreaming.
• Begin while others are procrastinating.
• Work while others are wishing.
• Save while others are wasting.
• Listen while others are talking.
• Smile while others are frowning.
• Commend while others are criticizing.
• Persist while others are quitting.

Remember, “do today what others won’t, so you can live tomorrow as others can’t.” The drive necessary to do this is only possible when you are pursuing your deepest passions and your truest dreams - not someone else’s passion, not what others think you should do, not what will make people happy, and definitely not what’s safe, requires little, and doesn’t make you feel uncomfortable. Your deepest passions and truest dreams will challenge you, scare you, and sometimes seem impossible. But, if you’ll stay the course and walk through every valley necessary, they’ll take you to mountaintops you’ve never even imagined, championships you hadn’t even dreamed of, and they’ll mold and shape you into the person you were made to become!

What are your deepest passions and truest dreams? Have you ever thought about it? They represent the greatest opportunities of your life if you’re willing to take the journey. Don’t wait and have to ask “what if?” when it’s too late. You have one shot…don’t waste it. Claim who YOU were made to be, and go after it with everything you have…

The picture of Volcan de Ilzalco, a Salvadoran Volcano, is just one example of the power and beauty that can be seen in creation. In the context of TLA’s “Discovering the Warrior Within” El Salvador Mission, it represents a feat that has been accomplished by many “climbing companions” as they have scaled this volcano as wingmen and women – figuratively and in reality. On their journey and through this picture, we can gather many lessons pertaining to each of our personal “Journeys of Excellence” – specifically the pursuit of our dreams.

This picture represents our mentality when we first embark on a “Journey of Excellence,” or when we first begin pursuing a Definite Major Purpose (DMP) in our lives. It’s like we are standing on an adjacent mountaintop, seeing eye-to-eye with our dream – it’s clear, we have a defined path, and although we know it will take commitment and effort, the achievement of it appears to be definitive within a given time frame. Then, we begin the journey…

What you can’t see from this picture (or when you begin pursuing a dream), is the deep valley(s) that exists for miles between this mountaintop and the volcano. You don’t see the 1,500 stairs that lead down into the valley or the view from the base of the volcano that undoubtedly challenges and intimidates hikers with a climb that is 10′s of thousands of feet upward. You don’t see that there is no clear path up this volcano, but rather one that zigzags around the mountainside – a path that can trip you up, cause you to fall, and sometimes lead you to dead ends that will force you to change your course and go backwards (in order for you to move forward). Nor do you realize in the beginning, that even when you reach this peak that there is yet another one to climb. In order to complete this journey, you must come back off the mountaintop you just worked so hard to get to, go back down into the valley, and back up 1,500 stairs to reach another peak – for your “Journey of Excellence” is never finished. There is always another peak to climb, another valley to go through, and “climbing companions” to inspire, encourage, and bring along with you…

John Maxwell says in Put Your Dream to the Test that:

• The Journey will always take longer than you hoped
• The obstacles will always be more numerous than you believed.
• The disappointments will always be greater than you expected.
• The lows will always be lower than you imagined.
• And, the price will always be higher than you anticipated (pg. 52)

This has been true of any dream I’ve pursued in my life, and anyone else that has begun a journey of “volcanic” proportions – and, it will be true of yours if you choose to embark on your “Journey of Excellence.” This is not to discourage you, but rather to prepare you for what lies ahead – to welcome you into the journey, and to challenge you to truly commit to your dreams. For, true commitment will take success from a matter of “if” to “when” because you know deep within your heart that no matter what obstacles you face, challenges you must overcome, fears you must conquer, and disappoints you must suffer that you will do whatever it takes to achieve your dream.

In closing, I’ll also offer that it’s in the valley where the mountaintop gains its value. It’s in the valley where your deepest relationships are formed. It’s in the valley where you discover how much you really want your dream. It’s in the overcoming of fears, fighting through yet another unexpected challenge, pushing forward when your dream appears to be hopeless and you have nothing left to give, wanting nothing more to give up and responding by going even harder that your dream becomes part of you – and the greatest championships are won.

This is what makes your dream worth it, and this is the story of our history’s greatest leaders. Their legacies welcome you into the “Journey of Excellence,” and examples show you the impact that your life could have if you’re willing to go through the valleys to reach the mountaintops of your dreams. Will you accept the challenge? Your “Journey of Excellence” begins now…