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Episode: Strength and Resilience in Leadership

Author: John Maxwell
Duration: 00:37:55

Episode Shownotes

Whether you’re leading in difficult times or in the best of times, this episode is one that will encourage you and give you the energy you need to keep going! In this episode, John Maxwell shares 4 powerful statements that will inspire strength and resilience in your leadership. After his

lesson, Mark Cole and Traci Morrow talk about these 4 statements and give you practical ways to apply them to your life and leadership. Key takeaways: All great works and all great successes are a result of struggle. “I don’t promise you that it will get easier. I do promise you that it will be worthwhile.” — Art Williams If you don’t create the future you want, you must endure the future you get. Our BONUS resource for this episode is the Strength and Resilience in Leadership Worksheet, which includes fill-in-the-blank notes from John’s teaching. You can download the worksheet by visiting MaxwellPodcast.com/Resilient and clicking “Download the Bonus Resource.” Take the next step in your growth journey and become a Maxwell Leadership Certified Team Member. Click here to speak with a Program Advisor today! References: Watch this episode on YouTube! Are you a young leader? Take our Next Generation Leader survey and receive The Mentor’s Guide to Everyday Challenges for FREE! Learn more about the 5 Levels of Leadership Workshop for your teams! Enter the code PODCAST for 15% off of The Leader’s Greatest Return by John C. Maxwell Join the Maxwell Leadership Certified Team Shop the Maxwell Leadership Online Store

Full Transcript

00:00:08 Speaker_02
Hey, welcome to the Maxwell Leadership Podcast. This is our podcast that is committed to you. And our commitment is, is we're going to do our best to add value to you as a leader.

00:00:19 Speaker_02
We want you thinking like an influencer, like a leader, so you will multiply value to others. My name is Mark Cole. And today, John Maxwell is going to share four thoughts that should inspire, that it will inspire,

00:00:35 Speaker_02
I believe that it will make a difference in the strength and the resilience in your leadership. In fact, as I was listening to this lesson just a few minutes ago, I imagined the gift of John Maxwell. I imagined this 77 year young leader.

00:00:53 Speaker_02
that has committed 50 years of his life to learning, studying, improving, and communicating leadership.

00:01:00 Speaker_02
And I just imagined him right here at Christmas time pulling me beside him around a campfire and saying, Mark, let me give you four things that 50 years has taught me.

00:01:11 Speaker_02
Let me share with you four things that will strengthen you and give you resilience if you will allow it. So perhaps today, whether you're watching Tracy and I by YouTube, or whether you're listening as you're running and doing your exercising,

00:01:28 Speaker_02
If you will just visualize getting to pull up a chair beside the fire and have John Maxwell, after 50 plus years, offer some advice on how to strengthen and how to encourage resilience in your life and leadership, you're going to be impacted.

00:01:43 Speaker_02
After John's lesson, my co-host Tracy Morrow and I will give you practical ways that you can apply this lesson to both life and to your passion to lead more effectively.

00:01:55 Speaker_02
If you would like to download the free bonus resource for this episode or even watch us on YouTube, visit maxwellpodcast.com forward slash resilient. Also stay till the end for an exclusive offer just for you, our listeners and viewers.

00:02:13 Speaker_02
Now, here we go. Pull up a chair. Here's John Maxwell.

00:02:23 Speaker_04
I'd like to give you, I don't know, I've got three or four what I call strength statements. And a strength statement is just a statement that if I give it to you and teach it for a moment, it'll give you strength. It'll be almost like a vitamin.

00:02:38 Speaker_04
It'll give you energy boost that'll just help you to lead during some difficult hours. So let me give them to you and see if it doesn't help you. For example, strength statement number one I want to give to you today is this.

00:02:51 Speaker_04
Just because you're struggling doesn't mean you're failing.

00:02:58 Speaker_04
And I think that's a very important statement to make because I think a lot of people, when they're struggling, and we all struggle, especially during difficult times, during adversity, we're not always winning. We're sometimes in the ditch.

00:03:10 Speaker_04
And I think sometimes people will think, well, because I'm struggling, I'm failing. And that's not true at all. All of us struggle.

00:03:20 Speaker_04
But let me just tell you that, you see, when I'm struggling, when I'm fighting, I'm getting back up, and I'm never down, I'm always up or getting up, when I'm struggling, I'm still in the game. Now, when I'm giving up, I'm getting out of the game.

00:03:36 Speaker_04
And there's a world of difference between those two. You see, I've never known a person to quit their way to the top. It just doesn't happen. I've known a lot of people who struggled their way to the top.

00:03:49 Speaker_04
Very successful, struggled all the way, but they got there. Wasn't easy, wasn't fast, but they stayed in the game. But the moment that you and I quit, now we've got a failure that can't be repaired. We're out of the game.

00:04:06 Speaker_04
So I think that's a real good shot in the arm for you, that just because you're struggling doesn't mean that you're failing. All great works and all great successes are a result of struggle. You remember, everything worthwhile is uphill.

00:04:24 Speaker_04
Which brings me to the second statement that I want to make to you. This is another great strength statement, and that is everything worthwhile is uphill.

00:04:33 Speaker_04
I have a wonderful friend, Art Williams, and Art Williams has a statement that I pass on to you right now that'll just put wind beneath your wings, I promise you. And here's what Art says. He said, I don't promise you that it will get easier.

00:04:47 Speaker_04
I do promise you that it'll be worthwhile. And Art told me he built his company and the people that he brought on his team, he said, now you have to understand something.

00:04:58 Speaker_04
If you're going to build a great business, I'm not promising you this is going to be easy. I'm not going to promise you this is going to be quick. I'm not going to promise you that this is going to be even natural for you.

00:05:09 Speaker_04
So I can't promise you those things. Those are fake promises. What I can promise you, Art Williams would say, is very simple. I can promise you. It's worthwhile.

00:05:23 Speaker_04
You see, when you think of everything being uphill, do you know what's at the end of that hill? All of your dreams, all of your hopes. all of your desires. And if you've built a business, it's uphill all the way.

00:05:35 Speaker_04
If you've got a great relationship with your spouse or with friends, it's uphill all the way. It's always uphill. It's always uphill. And so I want you to know that struggling is uphill. Coasting is downhill.

00:05:46 Speaker_04
So when somebody says, well, man, it's just not difficult. It's very easy and I don't have to work at it. They're going downhill. Everything worthwhile is uphill. Let me give you another strength statement.

00:06:01 Speaker_04
This is one by Margaret Thatcher, who was the great prime minister for many years at Great Britain. Her statement was this, you may have to fight the battle more than once to win it.

00:06:16 Speaker_04
I love that because I think that there are times when we think, all right, I fought that and I won, now I can get on with my life, only to find that the battle comes back, that the problem pops back up. that the adversity surrounds us one more time.

00:06:33 Speaker_04
And Margaret Thatcher was right when she said, you just sometimes have to fight a battle more than one time to be able to win it. But I want you to know that you just have to keep fighting the battle. Let me give you an example.

00:06:48 Speaker_04
I've written more material on leadership than any man that's ever lived in the history of the world. But let me tell you a story. I wrote 27 books before I ever had a book make the bestseller list. 27 books that never got recognized.

00:07:07 Speaker_04
27 books that a lot of people never bought. 27 books that stayed on bookshelves or in some kind of a backroom supply office. 27 books before I ever got a bestseller.

00:07:23 Speaker_04
Now, 35 million books later, people say, oh my gosh, it's just amazing that you write and books just sell a lot of copies. Not really. Again, I wish you could have been with me in the beginning. I had to go through 20.

00:07:40 Speaker_04
What would have happened if, you know, my 25th or 26th book, I just say, you know what, I just don't think I'm cut out for this. I just don't think, yeah, I just don't, I don't think I'm going to make it.

00:07:54 Speaker_04
You see, the problem with quitting is you never know how close you were to succeeding. You never know.

00:08:02 Speaker_04
I could have stopped after 26 books, and I could have told everybody, I gave it a shot, gave it my best shot, and all that would be true to a certain extent.

00:08:12 Speaker_04
But on that 28th book, yeah, a bestseller, and then another bestseller, and now dozens and dozens of bestsellers. But I didn't get there quickly. I didn't get there easily. I had to keep fighting the battle. I had to keep writing books.

00:08:28 Speaker_04
I had to stay in the game. Again, what do I teach all the time? Consistency compounds. Let me give you another strength statement. Here it is. If you don't create the future you want, you must endure the future you get. You see, we have a future.

00:08:52 Speaker_04
That's not the question. The question is, what kind of future are we going to have? And what I want you to see in this strength statement is this. You create your own future, or somebody else will create it for you.

00:09:06 Speaker_04
This is the difference between being intentional and unintentional. If you're intentional, you create your future. If you're unintentional, somebody else creates it for you. It's the difference between asking the question, can I? And how can I?

00:09:25 Speaker_04
Now isn't that interesting? Those questions are quite similar. But when I ask the question, can I? I'm expressing the fact that I may not. I'm expressing the fact that maybe I'll exit and quit.

00:09:40 Speaker_04
The moment I changed my question from can I, which has a whole bunch of possibilities of loss and failure, to how can I Now I'm in the game. I'm going to stay in the game. It's not a question of am I going to do it?

00:09:55 Speaker_04
I just got to figure out how I'm going to do it. I've already determined to do it. Now I just got to figure out how. You see, that's the difference. That's the difference between creating your future and letting someone else create it.

00:10:05 Speaker_04
It's the difference between accepting your life and leading your life. It's the difference between waiting for it and working for it. So I just gave you four strength statements. Take them. Rethink them. Practice them.

00:10:23 Speaker_04
Let them put strength into your life. You'll be better on your journey. I promise you that.

00:10:33 Speaker_01
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00:10:44 Speaker_01
Well, we have a phenomenal strategy where you are 100% in control of your own business, earning income on your own terms, and have access to the people, tools, and resources you need to build a thriving leadership development business.

00:11:02 Speaker_01
When you become a Maxwell Leadership Certified Team Member, you join a global community of entrepreneurs led by our expert team of mentors and faculty, including John C. Maxwell.

00:11:15 Speaker_01
You'll also get one of the top leadership certifications in the world next to your name, giving you the boost you need to get started. Visit us online at maxwellleadership.com forward slash join the team to find out more.

00:11:35 Speaker_02
Hey, welcome back. I was just telling Jake and Tracy here in the studio. I meant what I said. When John was given all this wisdom, I've heard him literally say these four things hundreds of times.

00:11:47 Speaker_02
And most of the time as a leader, and maybe this is true for you, listener and viewer, most of the time I listen for lessons so that I can learn them and apply them. I don't listen so that I can keep reapplying them.

00:12:01 Speaker_02
But these four things that John is sharing with us today are not meant to listen, learn, and move on. They're meant to listen, learn, apply, listen, learn, apply, listen, learn, apply indefinitely.

00:12:14 Speaker_02
Because even John Maxwell at 77, I travel with him more than any other human in the world. He's still learning these lessons about certain times and certain opportunities he's needing to lead through. It's what C.S. Lewis says.

00:12:28 Speaker_02
He says, hardships often prepare ordinary people for extraordinary destiny. And if you want extraordinary destiny, and you're an ordinary person like me, guess what? You're gonna have to keep applying these lessons, not just try to learn them.

00:12:42 Speaker_02
And Tracy, I am looking forward to spending some time talking about these four things with you.

00:12:49 Speaker_00
I am too, although I have to say, when we think of strength and resilience like you, I think we like to look at it in our rear view mirror instead of that it's a companion that travels with us throughout the course of the entire journey.

00:13:08 Speaker_00
And that is a really difficult thing because we wanna kick that companion out of the car. Lighten our load and travel without. But when John said, just because you're struggling, it doesn't mean you're failing.

00:13:26 Speaker_00
And I wrote that down and then I highlighted it and I just sort of stared at that. Because that is a really refreshing thing to remember.

00:13:37 Speaker_00
And I think we're all going to need to remember that because the struggle is really something that I think as much as we do these podcasts, I listen to these podcasts, I co-host with you, I listen when I'm not co-hosting.

00:13:54 Speaker_00
And I tell you, I think sometimes when I struggle as a leader, I think, what did I do wrong that I am failing at this again? And I still have that internal conversation with myself.

00:14:06 Speaker_00
And so to remember from John, who's a mentor to us all, that struggling doesn't mean we're failing, that it is a companion for the entire course of the journey. So Mark,

00:14:18 Speaker_00
If you'd be open to sharing with us, you are always so open as a learning leader, a generous leader to share with us your lessons.

00:14:28 Speaker_00
What are some of the personal lessons that you've learned as a result of the struggle through not failing, but just through the struggle?

00:14:39 Speaker_02
You know, I've said often, Tracy, that I am a recovering people pleaser. One of the other things is that I have resilience. I am resilient at kicking myself harder than I kick anybody else.

00:14:53 Speaker_02
The self-condemnation I have in my leadership, in my life, I think it's a product of some frames of references that I grew up with and that I was super involved with. There's just this almost dogmatic judgment that I give to myself during failure.

00:15:14 Speaker_02
I'm just hard. I'm hard on people. And I think part of the reason that I'm hard on people is because I'm a people pleaser, which means I'm embarrassed that people's going to think I'm worse than what I really am.

00:15:23 Speaker_02
So I try to beat them to the punch and show them that I'm worse than I really am, right?

00:15:28 Speaker_02
And so there's a moment of authenticity for you that I'm not only an incessant people pleaser, I'm also an incessant judger of myself in a condescending kind of way.

00:15:39 Speaker_02
So when you have those two competing but almost complimentary struggles in your personality as I do, it's hard for me to separate struggling and failure. It's hard for me to separate struggle from inadequacies and weaknesses within me.

00:15:57 Speaker_02
I'll try something bigger than I've never tried before. It's never been done before. I'm the first ever, I'm a pioneer, and somehow I still hold myself accountable that I'm supposed to be really good. Let me illustrate.

00:16:11 Speaker_02
Tracy, have you ever played golf with me? No. Don't. Jake, have you ever played golf with me?

00:16:16 Speaker_01
No.

00:16:17 Speaker_02
Don't. I'm terrible. But somehow, get me on the golf course. And all of a sudden, in my mind, Tiger Woods should be scared of me. I should be that good. And yet, I'm not that good. But somehow, I get into a new environment or a leadership environment.

00:16:34 Speaker_02
And when the struggle becomes real, it speaks to my effectiveness rather than speaks to the challenge of something new I'm trying to do. Therefore, when John says, just because you're struggling, don't see it as a failure. It hits me deep.

00:16:54 Speaker_02
Because almost every struggle I have, my immediate assessment is I'm failing. I'm not adequate. I'm not good enough. I'm on the golf course. I'm not shooting par. I do that, and what John's statement really is here, gang, podcast family that relate to me,

00:17:13 Speaker_02
This is a get out of jail free card. Quit being so harsh on yourself if you're struggling. You may be struggling because you're trying something nobody else will do.

00:17:26 Speaker_02
You may be struggling because your background, your history, your family dynamics never gave you an opportunity, but look at what you're trying now.

00:17:36 Speaker_02
It's why John says, hey, don't say I'm giving up, say I'm getting up, because you're still in the game. Hey, I don't know how 2024 is finishing up for you, but you're still in the game.

00:17:50 Speaker_02
I don't know if you've done everything right or if it's been a struggle, but guess what? You're still listening to a podcast, watching a podcast, trying to improve yourself. You're still in the game.

00:18:04 Speaker_02
You're not failing, you may be struggling, but struggling is not failing.

00:18:10 Speaker_00
So let me ask you something before we move on to the next one, and we may end up parking here, but is there any part of you as you get healthier that feels like your fear of failing, I hope I can say this right, that your fear of failing is what drives you to your success and you're afraid to let that go?

00:18:29 Speaker_00
And embrace the struggle as part of growth from a healthy mindset because I feel like there are some leaders who embrace that and almost keep that as the companion is their unhealthy connection to their fear of failing.

00:18:45 Speaker_00
which is rooted in something probably unhealthy from childhood, rather than the healthy embracing of the struggle and staying in the struggle and moving forward in that and releasing the fear of failure and instead of moving forward in that.

00:19:00 Speaker_00
Am I being clear in that? Because I think that there are a lot of really incredible leaders who are afraid to let go of fear and fear of failing. and embrace the struggle because they think their superpower is their fear of failure.

00:19:19 Speaker_02
It helps. It's so good, Tracy. I'm so glad you brought this up. And you're right. We may camp here and we will for a few more minutes. When you have accomplished something never been done before, do a gut check.

00:19:32 Speaker_02
Is there a sense of satisfaction or is there a sense of relief? The satisfaction is pride that you have done something that was next to impossible. A sense of relief as you're trying to prove something to yourself or to someone else.

00:19:49 Speaker_02
And what I will tell you is, you want to accomplish things for the sake of accomplishment, not for the sake of proving.

00:19:58 Speaker_00
Yes.

00:19:59 Speaker_02
And oftentimes, people are driven at the fear of failure rather than the sense of accomplishment. And when fear of failure drives you, the journey is not fun. The destination is not fun. It can be a relief. And there is not a sense of fulfillment.

00:20:21 Speaker_02
Because failure and the fear of failure is driving that, and so here's what happens. When you accomplish something out of a fear of failure, oh happy day, you accomplished it, congratulations. I'm really proud of you, I really am.

00:20:33 Speaker_02
I'm glad you accomplished something even if it was out of failure. But guess what?

00:20:38 Speaker_02
Tomorrow morning you'll wake up, and the sense of dread, and the sense of having to do it all over again, and the sense of having to prove yourself worthy again, will be right back up on your shoulder.

00:20:50 Speaker_02
Because your motive for doing something is trying to disprove something, rather than prove something. I want to prove that I have what it takes to myself, but I don't want to disprove that everybody's opinion of me is wrong.

00:21:05 Speaker_02
Because when you try to disprove everybody's opinion of you, you are looking external for your valuation rather than internal for your value. And that external sense of valuation is both fleeting and flawed.

00:21:20 Speaker_02
It's fleeting because everybody wants to know what have you done for me lately? It's flawed because nobody external of you should determine your worth or your sense of accomplishment. That should come from within.

00:21:33 Speaker_02
And that's why, Tracy, that's such a brilliant point. When failure is driving your success ratio, you will never be successful enough in your own eyes to enjoy it.

00:21:48 Speaker_00
I think that's so good that you said that, because that's why John will say, you know, there's always a deeper meaning to his little catchphrases when he says, feed your faith and starve your fear.

00:21:59 Speaker_00
Because exactly what you just said, if you're doing it because you have a fear of failure or you're trying to prove it to some nameless, faceless person from your childhood who told you you'll never amount to something.

00:22:10 Speaker_00
When you wake up, that dread and fear is still there because fear, the hunger of fear is never satisfied. And you will wake up continually with that deep, deep hunger. Fear is starving for more and more and more and you will never

00:22:27 Speaker_00
it will never be satisfied. And that's why we have to starve it, because it will continually drive you and you will never feel satisfaction. So I'm so glad that you addressed that. And now let's move to everything worthwhile is uphill.

00:22:40 Speaker_00
And I hope that that person I just want to pause to say the the person, the people, because I know so many leaders who are driven by fear of failure. I hope you will really maybe even turn the podcast off there.

00:22:51 Speaker_00
Maybe somebody stopped to cry because it broke something deep in you. It addressed something deep in you that you have struggled with for a really long time. And I hope you receive that message.

00:23:02 Speaker_00
And really, you'll have to address it again and again and again. But I hope you really receive it and let it go with you, lay that behind and move forward. So everything worthwhile is all uphill. John, and then he says, all the way.

00:23:18 Speaker_02
I hate those three words. I hate those three words.

00:23:22 Speaker_00
Couldn't you have just left it at everything worthwhile is uphill that he's like, all the way. Oh, man. Man, John, cut us some slack. But it's good to know because I have been in my professional career in a rough, hard season, me and my team.

00:23:41 Speaker_00
And we keep saying to each other, remember what John says. No leader has two great days in a row.

00:23:48 Speaker_00
And my team and I have been so thankful that he said that because we will be literally celebrating and the text will come in or the phone, you know, somebody calls in and boom, the bomb is dropped.

00:24:04 Speaker_00
more bad news or somebody's upset or something bad happens, and it disturbs the celebration. He says, celebrate for 24 hours or grieve something for 24 hours. Sometimes you don't even get 24 hours.

00:24:16 Speaker_00
Sometimes it's like an hour that you're celebrating and something comes in. And so we're tempted, we might be tempted to hang our heads when that happens, but we just keep saying, remember what John said, no leader has two great days in a row.

00:24:30 Speaker_00
Sometimes it's two great hours in a row. But how has this been proven so far in your leadership, Mark, that you've seen?

00:24:37 Speaker_02
Yeah, you know, I'm like you. When John's teaching that, everything worthwhile is uphill. I'm going, yeah, absolutely. You sacrifice. You pay the price. Nothing's easy. And then it's all good. It's all good.

00:24:50 Speaker_02
In fact, it's our standout statement for this podcast. We always try to have a guiding statement for our podcast. And this one, this is it. Leadership isn't easy, but it is worthwhile. So I got it. I bought into the fact.

00:25:02 Speaker_02
It's the all the way that it's my problem. It's like, can I get a relief? John says the problem, when he first started saying this, he said, the problem, we all have uphill dreams. We all have uphill aspirations.

00:25:17 Speaker_02
If you're watching the podcast, I mean, I'm holding my hand up. We all want to get there. The challenge is we have downhill habits, right? In other words, we all say, okay, we'll pay the price. Tell me the price, I'll pay it.

00:25:30 Speaker_02
The problem is, is after I've paid the price and there's still more to pay, That's when I go, man, have I been, somebody baited and switched me on this leadership thing. Okay, I was sold a bill of goods here.

00:25:42 Speaker_02
Everybody told me, Mark, you're gonna have to pay the price to become an owner of a company. Okay, I paid that. Why do I have to pay again and again and again and again? It really is all the way that I camp out on all the time.

00:26:00 Speaker_02
I've told this story before. I'll never forget back in 2007, I was making a leadership transition. I was really struggling. I was having a really difficult time and could not figure it out. And I mean, I was in my office perplexed like this.

00:26:15 Speaker_02
This was way before 2020. I sit like this a lot more after COVID and after ownership and when the gray hair started popping. But I'm sitting there at my desk and I was at home that day and Stephanie, my wife, came in. She said, hey, what's going on?

00:26:28 Speaker_02
I said, I don't think I can do this, Stephanie. It's too hard. I think I'm going to go back to the easier position to lead. I just don't think I can do this. She just silently left the room, and I went, wow, that was effective. Thanks, babe.

00:26:44 Speaker_02
Glad you asked and found out. Now you're gone. She's out. And I just kind of was sitting there, and about five minutes later, and my wife is not technically inclined at all.

00:26:53 Speaker_02
Like, for her to print a piece of paper like I'm getting ready to tell you, that's like, seriously, we have come a long way, baby, for my wife to go up. And on her computer, she made this piece of paper just like this right here.

00:27:08 Speaker_02
And she put on there, she made five words, as big a font as she could get on one thing. And number one, I was just amazed that my wife had created a document without my help. But here's what it said, and it's hung in my office ever since.

00:27:21 Speaker_02
You were made for hard. You were made for heart." And she said, Mark Cole, I don't want to hear that comment again. I don't want to hear you say, I want to go take the easy road again. You, my friend, my husband, my pal, you were made for heart.

00:27:40 Speaker_02
That statement has sustained me for years to know that, hey, I was created for this. Bring it on. I got this. I was made for heart. And that helps, but it's still all the way.

00:27:55 Speaker_00
All the way. Thankfully, thank you, Stephanie, for not also adding all the way at the bottom of that paper for Mark. I don't think he had it in him to take it that day.

00:28:06 Speaker_02
That day, that would have been three words too many.

00:28:11 Speaker_00
Yeah, that's right. That would be eight words, too much. That's right. So I would love for all of you, if you feel also inclined to have that as a reminder up in your office, tag us on social media, Maxwell Leadership.

00:28:23 Speaker_00
And we would love to see that you are putting that up in your office as well, because it's a great reminder to all of us that we were all made for hard. This is not just Mark Cole. This is all of us.

00:28:32 Speaker_00
We were all made for hard when we were called to this leadership game. we were all made for hard. Gosh, our time is running slim, but when John talks about, you know, we're going to have to fight the battle more than once to win it.

00:28:48 Speaker_00
That, again, with this lesson, I am tempted to think that I failed the first time around if I didn't get the lesson that I have to learn it again. But John really drives this home and he calls it layered learning.

00:29:06 Speaker_00
And so from your personal experience, Mark, talk about how layered learning has been a friend to you in your journey.

00:29:16 Speaker_02
You know, I tell John often when I'll make a mistake, I'm pretty okay. It's taken me a long time, but I'm pretty okay when I make a mistake on something I've never done before. I really have gotten like, wow, okay, didn't see that one coming.

00:29:32 Speaker_02
Boy, I learned a lot. Got a lesson out of it. It's worth it. I literally have right now in my arsenal million dollar lessons. Lost a million dollars, but I got a good lesson out of it. I mean, literally, that's in my portfolio now.

00:29:48 Speaker_02
So I kind of have gotten there. My challenge is when the same issue comes back up, when I have to learn something the second time. And what John says here is when you have to fight the battle more than once to win it,

00:30:05 Speaker_02
And I have really, fortunately we are out of time, because I have two stories in business of times to where I thought I had won the battle.

00:30:15 Speaker_02
I thought I had accomplished everything that I was going to accomplish, only to have that sucker raise its head again. Anybody out there, podcast family, listening, viewing, and this is another place to tag us with a comment.

00:30:30 Speaker_02
Anybody played leadership whack-a-mole? You'll whack that baby, it sinks, and then all of a sudden it pops up over here. And then you'll whack it over here. By the way, I got chastised about saying kick the cat.

00:30:42 Speaker_02
If any of you love moles, please, please, I'm not really taking it out on a mole, but you know whack-a-mole thing. And you get done and you go, yes, I got it, and that thing pops up again. It's leadership whack-a-mole.

00:30:57 Speaker_02
And for me, that's a challenge because I take the second and third time of fighting the same battle as a personal affront to my lack of leadership getting it completed the first time.

00:31:10 Speaker_02
But as business leaders, what John is saying here, there are some things in your business that you're gonna have to defeat that enemy, that distraction, that obstacle, multiple times to get the final war victory that you want.

00:31:27 Speaker_02
And I can tell you as a leader, There have been people, and again, I want to be very careful, because some of my illustrations are listeners to this podcast.

00:31:37 Speaker_02
But I want to tell you, I can think of a couple of situations that I thought for sure that we together had fought a battle and won that battle, only for two weeks later, them to come back with the exact same problem that I thought we had just accomplished.

00:31:52 Speaker_02
And then I can tell you over time, we fought it from this angle, from this angle, from this angle, claiming victory every time. To where one day, guess what? We did get victory. One day we did overcome. Here's my point in saying that.

00:32:06 Speaker_02
I think what John is saying here is just because you're fighting a battle you thought you won last year, the year before, the year before, here's the great news. Like I said on the first point, it's December. You're still in the battle.

00:32:20 Speaker_02
You're still in the game. Let's go. Let's keep going after it. I can promise you the reward is worth it.

00:32:27 Speaker_00
That's right. That's right. Well, he ends and our time is short, but if you don't create the future you want, you must endure the future you get, which is a startling statement that is so true. It's kind of a wake up statement for some people.

00:32:43 Speaker_00
I think sometimes we are waiting for something to happen and years pass us by. And so what would you say for those to our listeners who are waiting for it versus working for it? What would you say is the big takeaway for our listeners?

00:33:00 Speaker_02
The biggest takeaway I would tell you in this time of the year, I'm always in reflection mode. I'm always doing year-end review.

00:33:07 Speaker_02
And I would have you look at some things that keep coming up at the end of the year as you review the success and the challenges of your previous year and set up a plan for a more successful year the next year, much like many of you will be doing over the next couple of weeks.

00:33:22 Speaker_02
And I would challenge you to ask yourself this question, the question John's asking right here, are you creating your future or are other people creating a future that you're gonna endure?

00:33:35 Speaker_02
And if you want to have the future that you want, you're going to have to do some things different in 2025 than what you've done in 2024 and before, because you're letting too many people have a hand in what your future looks like, and you're tired of enduring their future for you.

00:33:57 Speaker_02
And this is the time, this is the place, this is the podcast to where I can tell you, you can make a difference. You can determine that your future will be what is in your heart, what is in your calling, what is in your purpose.

00:34:14 Speaker_02
You can begin starting today, starting this podcast. You can begin crafting the future that you want so that you stop enduring the future that you're getting. And you can do that. John Maxwell, sitting around the fire today, told us that you can.

00:34:32 Speaker_02
And I believe in his 77 years of wisdom, And 55 of that, being an expert, a thought leader on leadership, really has something to say for us. And I think it's just your time to listen to this podcast. Here's what I want to do for you.

00:34:47 Speaker_02
I promised you in the show notes early on. that I would give you something that would help you with this struggle, this struggle of creating the future you want.

00:34:56 Speaker_02
For me, I began accomplishing the future I always wanted when I developed a personal growth plan in my life. I talk about this all over the world.

00:35:07 Speaker_02
Growth and a growth plan to accomplish growth, intentionality to growth, was the all-time best difference maker for me crafting the future that I'm now living that I wanted back then. And so I want to help you jumpstart that in 2025.

00:35:22 Speaker_02
We have a digital product. It's $499 digital product on the 15 laws of growth. John's incredible epic book on helping people no matter what level you're in in leadership and growth.

00:35:37 Speaker_02
If you have a future desire that you have not yet designed, starting with personal growth and building your capacity is the first step.

00:35:46 Speaker_02
And so we're discounting that $499 product all the way down to $99 so that you'll buy yourself a Christmas present. so that you will start the year off right by investing in yourself. And so it's $99. We'll put it in the show notes.

00:36:02 Speaker_02
We'll put it in the podcast, How to Be a Real Success Part Two. And here's why. It's because Ethel from Ghana listened to that podcast and loved it. And this is what Ethel said, for the numerous times I've listened to this podcast.

00:36:17 Speaker_02
I have finally written my life's mission as an HR practitioner. Ethel, I'm so excited for you. Ethel said to equip trained people to compound businesses is what I was supposed to do. Thank you, Mark Cole.

00:36:33 Speaker_02
Thank you, John C. Maxwell for the teaching on CLEAR. Tracy, this is you. Communication, leadership, equipping, attitude, relationship as a must-have skill. I'm re-echoing. that real in this part two series is a bell ringer for me.

00:36:50 Speaker_02
I'm Ethel from Ghana and I'm making a difference with my life. Ethel, I'm so proud of you because everyone deserves to be led well.

00:37:05 Speaker_03
Are you ready to elevate your leadership to new heights? Join the movement towards High Road Leadership with John C. Maxwell's latest book.

00:37:14 Speaker_03
In High Road Leadership, John explores the power of valuing all people, doing the right things for the right reasons, and placing others above personal agendas. Learn how to inspire positive change and bring people together in a world that divides.

00:37:30 Speaker_03
Order now and receive exclusive bonuses including a keynote on High Road Leadership by John Maxwell himself and a sneak peek into three impactful chapters. Take the first step towards becoming a High Road Leader.

00:37:45 Speaker_03
Visit HighRoadLeadershipBook.com to order your copy today.