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Thursday, February 2, 2012
2012 'Random Holland Thoughts' - #10 'Let YOUR song out!' - ConclusionWelcome back on this wonderful Thursday, February 2nd.....now me being a
PA boy born and raised, you know what that means don't you??????.....Ground Hog Day and of course,
Punxsutawney Phil. Now, after this morning's event, the headlines all over the WORLD
read something like the following: Groundhog Day 2012: Punxsutawney Phil shadow means 6 more weeks of winterNow for
those of you uniformed individulas who dare doubt the wisdom of such a creature and situation ; for you I feel so sorry. If
you want to see the actual moment you can click on the following link and see Phil do his thing: http://www.groundhog.org/ Well, now that I got that moment out of my system, back to the business at hand. As I have shared previously,
for the first part of 2012 I have decided to not follow any set pattern or series of thoughts in my blog
postings but to simply write about whatever I feel at the moment; thus the title of 'Random
Holland Thoughts'. The first three 'Random Holland Thoughts'
I shared were:
#1. -
'Resolutions'
#2. - Sometimes, we just need to let go of some aspects of life'
#3. - 'Keep
the Lessons, lose the guilt!'
On
Tuesday we began exploring the following thought which is:
#4. - 'Let YOUR song
out!' and today I would like to bring this thought to a close.
As we
concluded Tuesday's thoughts I left you with several
thoughts/questions to think about which are below:
*
- What songs, talents do you have inside of you?
*
- Are you singing, letting these talents out for all to see? (If not, why NOT.....what is holding you back?)
*
- Where do you need to be like the birds or the child I referenced above......where do you need to sing, skip or hop? (Just
wondering?  )
So I have to know: did you think about these
and what did you unearth?
As I thought about the above questions something came to my mind that puzzles me and
it is this: Why does it seem so many people 'die with their song/talents' still inside of them?
Why do people end up in jobs and whole careers where they feel stuck and where they know they currently aren't
using their true and deep talents? Now you might disagree with me and that is OK but if I was a betting man I would bet that
the percentage of people that embrace their true, deep talents is LESS than the people who don't. Why is this?????? I
know, 'Life Happens.....I don't know how? I have too many other obligations'....... and the list goes on and on. I was
talking with a close friend today and we got on the topic of people being a 'Victim or Assuming a Victim Mentality' and how
when you adopt this type of mindset it prohibits you from moving forward in your life. I would also add that this type
of mentality if you will, often holds people back from truly embracing their songs/talents and then allowing those talents
to affect the world around them
Now I'm sure, most people embrace SOME of their talents in their daily jobs
and life but what about all those other talents that may lie beneath the surface and need to be unearthed in order to be expressed
to the world....what about them? If you asked me what I think the biggest hindrance is for people when it comes to embracing
this thought and principle it would simply be because of one word: FEAR. I think people are afraid of truly
letting out their talents. What if I try and fail? What if others don't like or appreciate my talents? If I embrace
this talent it will take a lot of my energy and then what will I do.....I have to make a living?
I meet people
almost on a weekly basis who fit the above-mentioned criteria or attributes in one way or the other. People who want to go
back to school or learn a new trade but are too afraid of venturing back into the fray and trying. The friend I mentioned
above refuses to have a victim mentality and has decided to go back to school part time while still working full time....Is
it hard? Yes! Are there times when they probably don't want to study but would rather watch TV or do something else? Yes probably,
but they are determined to make it work and my hat is off to them and I so admire what they are doing. When they finish they
will be able to move in the direction they choose while all those other people, 'the victims' are still wallowing where they
were and wondering what happened.
This point was hammered home to me as I met with a client this week. I have the
wonderful privilege to partner with a global client on a management development program that I know is going to be a
huge success within their organization. Now to set this up properly I have to share that these two individuals have been working
and partnering together for a long time and together have designed a wonderful program. I was recently asked to join
their team later in the process when they realize they needed help in one particular area of this curriculum, an area in which
I am well versed.
As we began and I sat there in the planning meeting with the two of them, I had one very
interesting thought come running through my mind.....Why am I HERE? One of the people was the Vice President of Training and Development Worldwide for this organization
and the other person was an outside consultant like myself. Now as I sat there I realized that the VP had their Masters
in Organizational Development and that they got this Masters well after they had entered the workforce.....No
excuses or victim mentality there. The other person, the consultant is a PH.D with their Doctorate in Industrial-Organizational
Psychology and I also know that they got their doctorate while working full-time too....no victim there either!
Now the reason I am sharing this is because of the funny thing that happened to me mentally while I was in this meeting
and surrounded by these extremely talented individuals with impressive academic degrees. If I'm honest, there was a part of
me that was so intimidated and often wondered what I said above: Why am I here? I guess
for you to truly appreciate this you have to know that academics wasn't my strong suit. Yes I went to a top liberal arts
college, Franklin and Marshall http://www.fandm.edu/ but you need to understand that all I did was graduate.....period and that was barely. No honors, no nothing, in fact
I squeezed my four years into SIX. (Think about that.......it will come to some of you!)
Yet even though
I was thinking that for a minute I also knew that I was a part of this team and I was there for a purpose. I started
realizing that I bring talents and insights to this group too and then thought; they would NOT have asked me to partner
if I hadn't. The beauty of what I'm trying to express is that these folks knew they needed another person with a different
set of talents and that together we will make this a success. They understood that I didn't have the
same talents as they did but what I bring to the table is equally important to the end product. I will also say this
about these two individuals that helped me in our time together; neither of them were caught-up in how many abbreviations
were behind their name. They realized that they individually bring different talents than each other to the table and
so do I.........and that together, we will accomplish this goal. Throughout the entire time we were together they treated
me with nothing but respect and listened to my thoughts and suggestions as I presented them. We had such an amazing synergistic
meeting and all left, thoroughly excited and stoked for where this curriculum is going and the impact it will have on the
management team.
I guess my purpose in sharing the above thoughts is to help each of you to contemplate and/or
realize the following:
* - Everyone brings a SONG (talent) to the table!
*
- Just because someone's talents are different than yours doesn't make them better than you....it just make them different....period.
* - To accomplish any goal you need the input and thoughts of many different and sometimes divergent songs (talents).
* - Don't doubt your talents; both those that are evident and those that may not be unearthed yet....know this, you have
been blessed with wonderful talents, your own song or songs (talents)inside of you. Learn to embrace and celebrate them. Thank
the Lord we all don't sing alike!
* - Choose not to be a victim, explore your talents and unearth those latent ones for
everyone to see, appreciate and ultimately benefit from.
I hope your work-week concludes on a strong note and that you have a wonderful weekend surrounded by those you love deeply. Please
join me again on Tuesday when we will explore another 'Random Holland Thought' . Again, if you would like to take the time, I would
love to hear your thoughts, ideas or questions about today's topic and you can do that by emailing me at:
Holland@HollandMeads.com Also, if you haven't joined me on Facebook
then please click on the following link and 'like' my page today! http://www.facebook.com/pages/Holland-Meads-Consulting/299612940256 Thanks again for joining me in 2012 and now, as always, remember to keep:
'Dreaming
Big and Daring to Fail!'
4:47 pm est
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
2012 'Random Holland Thoughts' - #9 'Let YOUR song out!' Welcome back on this fine Tuesday, the last day of January 2012 is all ready
upon us and hopefully by now the events and goals of your new year are in full swing. I hope you had a great weekend
surrounded by those you love deeply and are now enthralled in a busy but very productive work-week. As always, remember to
stay focused on those truly 'VITAL' few tasks that need accomplishing. I had the opportunity recently to have dinner with
a long-time friend and as always, we had a very enjoyable time together. I am so blessed to have several people in my life
who are wonderfully deep friends and although we may not speak on a daily or even weekly basis, when we get to chat it is
always filled with such wonderful moments and our time together recently was no exception. I know many of you get tried of
me reminding us all of the VITAL few but I'm still going to do it.....during this dinner with my friend they gave me a wonderful
insight into a recent opportunity that has availed itself to me personally and in our conversation I was once again reminded
of the things that are truly most important in my life.....the VITAL few, and for that reminder, I am so blessed!
As I have shared previously, for the first part of 2012 I have decided to not follow any set pattern or series
of thoughts in my blog postings but to simply write about whatever I feel at the moment; thus the title of 'Random Holland Thoughts'. The first three 'Random
Holland Thoughts' I shared were:
#1. - 'Resolutions'
#2. - Sometimes, we just need to let go of some aspects of life'
#3. - 'Keep the Lessons, lose the guilt!'
Today I would like to begin our fourth thought
which is:
#4. - 'Let YOUR song out!'
Recently I was on my morning walk with my two furry boys, Moses and Hunter and I was
greeted by a series of wonderful sounds. Right after I had left the boys out of my truck and as I was just heading down
the trail I was almost startled by my first noise of the morning which was the very loud pounding of a woodpecker on
a tree right beside the trail. I really can't explain how loud this sound was but it was LOUD! So loud that it stopped me
in my tracks and I stood there trying to pinpoint, from where the sound was emanating. As I stood there quietly peering into
the forest I tried to locate my morning friend by listening to his pounding as he tapped on the tree again and again.
After a few minutes of peering with an inability to locate this woodpecker I continued my walk. Little did I know that this
day my walk would be filled with an amazing array of sounds and all of these sounds were the different calls of the birds
who frequent this area.
Each time I heard a new call from one of my winged friends I tried to locate where they
were in the area I was walking. Sometimes they flew right over my head, sometimes I could find them perched in a nearby tree
and still other times I could hear them so clearly but couldn't visually locate them at all. As I was enjoying being serenaded
the following thought came to my mind: 'Why were these birds all singing?' Now that
question might sound strange to some of you but it is truly what I was thinking.....why? Were they trying to get my attention?
Were they singing to one another? Was there a bird 'American Idol' competition or tryouts taking place in the woods this morning
that I didn't know about? Were they competing with each other to see who could sing the best, loudest, highest or most melodically
on this fine day? OR.........were they just singing because they had a song inside of them that needed to be let out?
After my walk I continued to think about how enjoyable it was being serenaded this morning but then I also began to
think about and apply to my life what I truly believe the birds in the woods were communicating to me on this morning which
was this: We all have a song inside of us and the key is to 'Let
YOUR song out! Now this concept might seem strange to you but it made total sense to me.......'Let YOUR song out!' To me the message was clear; don't be afraid to live your life
and let the unique beauty of YOUR LIFE SONG be heard by the world.
What is funny is how birds intuitively let
their song out and many of you think well Holland they don't know any better and it is all they can do. Ok, maybe I agree
with you there but for me there is a deeper life principle to be applied. Here is what I mean: I love kids, maybe
I am just a 6'6" kid at heart but I love them. I love to watch how children embrace life and live free, to me, like the
birds serenading. I recently saw a child walking with her mother and all of a sudden the child decided it was time to skip
instead of walk, then the skipping changed to hopping. The joy of the expression on this child's face was wonderfully refreshing.
She wasn't worried about what other people thought or if this was the proper time to skip or hop.....she felt like skipping
and hopping, so......she skipped and hopped! For me, the woods on this particular morning communicated the same message........if
you feel like singing, SING!
I guess the point I am trying to share was that these birds all had unique but different
vocal gifts they were sharing. They weren't in competition with one another. They weren't trying to out sing one another,
they were just singing and letting their talent be heard. I didn't hear any bird shouting for the other birds to be quiet
because they were singing, they all just sang to the best of their ability with no thought of judgement or need to compete.
I didn't see any bird NOT singing because he/she couldn't sing as well as some of the other birds, they just sang and the
plethora of different sounds made for a wonderful chorus, a symphony if you will, in the woods that morning.
Today, I would like to leave you with several
thoughts/questions to think about over the next few days........
* - What songs, talents do you have inside of you?
* - Are you singing, letting these talents out for all to see? (If not, why
NOT.....what is holding you back?)
* - Where do you need to be like the birds or the child I referenced above......where
do you need to sing, skip or hop? (Just wondering? )
I know these might be different types of questions
to think about but why not go ahead and have some fun with this exercise and see what you unearth. Please join me again
on Thursday as we continue our discussion of this 'Random Holland Thought' . Again, if you would like to take the time, I would
love to hear your thoughts, ideas or questions about today's topic and you can do that by emailing me at:
Holland@HollandMeads.com Also, if you haven't joined me on Facebook
then please click on the following link and 'like' my page today! http://www.facebook.com/pages/Holland-Meads-Consulting/299612940256 Thanks again for joining me in 2012 and now, as always, remember to keep:
'Dreaming Big and Daring to Fail!'
8:14 am est
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