Happy Thursday, friends! Hope you are coming off a wonderful July 4th, spent with family and friends, with good food and good weather. Tony and I are in Wisconsin right now, and had the rare treat of flying in just in time for a big family picnic. Now, we’re going to spend as much time as we can with our nieces and nephews. As we’re sure, they’ll all grow at least a foot by the time we see them again, at Christmas.

This month on the blog, we are going to be talking about some “Why’s.” On Monday, we looked at our “Why’s;” the ones that keep us going when things are hard (our dreams, families, community, etc.). And today, we are having a special Love Learn Lead post on perseverance. In the coming weeks you can look forward to posts on other “Why’s” that will help motivate and remind us to lean in to the hard, and to live the lives we’re meant to. I hope you’ll join us.

Love

Recently, I heard one of the writers I follow say that every day she writes down her goals and dreams. The same dreamsand the same goals, she writes them down everyday. Not only that, but she writes them in the present tense—as if they are already a reality. For example, one of my dreams is to write a book that people actually read. So I could write down “I am a best selling, published author.”

Now, I haven’t tried this exact approach, but I love the way she is putting her dreams and goals front and center, everyday. This way, they aren’t forgotten, and her direction unclear. We have to remember our dreams to be able to work toward them. So, she has inspired me to write down some of my goals and I have posted them above my laptop where I write. As I type this, I can see them right now. When things feel monotonous, and I want to go watch TV rather than write, they remind me why I am here, typing away.

What are your goals and dreams?

How do you need to remember them each day?

Learn

Perseverance is a great element of success. If you only knock long enough and loud enough at the gate, you are sure to wake up somebody.

—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Where do you need to persevere?

Where do you need to keep knocking?

Lead

With the social climate of our culture being especially tense right now, we can’t focus enough on leadership. Not just of those leading our country—but also on our own leadership right where we are. What it takes to be good leaders in our own circles of influence, at our jobs and in our homes, should be on our minds often. That is why, I love sharing interviews and conversations with influential leaders who have perspectives on the world we need to hear.

Recently, the advisor for leadership development at Google, Fred Kofman,was interview by Jessica Honegger, on her Going Scared Podcast. Jessica is the CEO of the fashion conscious brand Noonday, and with these two voices in the room, you know the conversation is going to be good. They talk about leadership, what it takes to live a truly good life, and how often our own instincts are working against our success.

If you are looking for an inspiring podcast to listen to this week, you can click here or look for Episode 18 of the Going Scared podcast, on iTunes.

What podcast episodes have inspired you lately?

How often do you think about your own leadership?

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