I became a step-mother over the weekend.
My husband’s fifteen-year-old daughter moved in with us from Long Island, New York.
While I am very grateful and excited at the opportunity to pour into her and help her become the woman God created her to be, I realized two things as we sat at the dinner table last night.
The first is that I need more chairs. Somehow over the years, two of the four chairs have disappeared. This is okay when there are two of us, but not okay when God adds more to the mix. This is the easy one.
The second is that greatness needs to be modeled.
Greatness is being notable; remarkable or exceptionally outstanding.
Greatness doesn’t need an introduction, it simply IS. It doesn’t need fanfare, it announces it’s own presence. And people take notice.
When someone recognizes the presence of greatness, there are only two possible reactions. Either they are inspired and rise to a new level, or their inadequacy surfaces and tries to attack or reduce the greatness (or the person operating in greatness) so they feel more comfortable.
Always choose to rise in the presence of greatness.
Someone walking in true greatness seems elusive. Almost impossible.
This is because few people have ever witnessed it without other areas of our lives being deeply off-kilter and out of integrity.
Most people never see true greatness demonstrated. They never witness what true excellence looks like so they remain at their current level and never rise to new standards and ways of operating.
While it is wonderful to talk to someone and share with them what they should do to improve their lives, it is much better to simply model it. Without saying a word, demonstrate what greatness looks like in every area of your life. They will notice. They will rise to the occasion and the standard which you create.
If you look around and don’t see anyone modeling greatness, just become the model. You do not need someone else’s permission to be great. Don’t wait on anyone else to lead the way. It is who you are.
I realized that the key to truly being an inspiration to the newest addition to our family is not to talk about it. BE it.
It means taking a good, long look at myself and noticing what areas are off and getting them in alignment with who I know God created me to be. I know exactly where to begin.
Here are a few steps to becoming a model of greatness:
1. Choose An Area For Greatness. In what area of your life do you desire to uplevel? Avoid the urge to work on more than three areas at a time. You have a certain bandwidth (your current capacity to get things done) with which God created you and you don’t want to overwhelm your bandwidth. When you overwhelm your current bandwidth you end up not getting anything done.
2. Identify Your Greatness. Before you can model anything, you have to know what it looks like. How it moves. What it feels like. Take some time to discover and get really clear about what greatness looks like for you in the area(s) of your life you are seeking to improve and uplevel.
3. Clarify the Vision. Get a clear image of what it will look and feel like when you are walking in it it. Sit with it. Literally. Take some time first thing in the morning to sit and truly allow yourself to FEEL what having greatness manifest this particular area of your life will feel like.
4. Make the Connection. Once you have chosen, identified and clarified, the next step is to DECIDE. In order to decide, you have to make the internal connection with what it is you want to accomplish. It is not enough to want or hope for something, you must decide that no matter what, you will do whatever it takes to get it done.
5. Take the Steps. Once you have truly made the connection that you are willing to do whatever it takes, then it is time to map out the steps it will take to get it done. Where are you today in this area? Where do you desire to be? What behaviors do you need to uplevel? What steps stand between where you are in this area of your life right now and where you want to be? It is okay if you don’t know all the steps. You have at least one step you can take to move forward. God seldom gives you all the steps. He tends to only give you up to three steps at a time. Have faith and He will provide the step-by-step process to move this area of your life into total alignment with what you truly desire.
6. Have fun! Make it a game. Challenge yourself to do better everyday. No beating yourself up. No looking back. Just keep moving forward and you will arrive at your greatest Self in every area of your life.
When you uplevel every area of your life into greatness, your business can’t help but to reflect greatness. Greatness must express itself. It must manifest. It cannot be hidden. It HAS to shine.
Here’s to expressing your greatness!
Dedicated to Your Success,
Ericka