Are you putting a focus on long-term leadership and leading like it’s your last chance?

I was recently reading an article encouraging people to give to organizations specifically geared towards helping the families of fallen soldiers, and it said on average every military death profoundly affects at least a dozen others (spouse, children, family, friends, co-workers). I honestly think it’s probably a lot more than that, but I guess they had their own definition of what a “profound” effect is.

Regardless, it had me thinking: “Wow. You get a call and that’s it.”

Maybe some people come to mind right now for you that you’ve lost. Maybe you’ve gotten that call and you had just spoken to that loved one the day before. Now they’re gone.

Tune in to the full episode here!

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts

---

Life is fleeting.

And believe it or not, this could be one of the most impactful and important ties for you to make to leadership.

We all know that we aren’t guaranteed tomorrow, but most of us don’t live that way. I’m not saying to live in fear, by any means, but to live truly knowing that each day is a gift. You can then translate that into leading like it could be your very last chance to do so.

What if we woke up every morning all fired up and excited because we view the fact that we woke up this morning as a greater gift than the inconveniences of the day. If we woke up each morning with excitement like that, our impact in the world around each of us would be dramatically different. If we took every mentorship opportunity that came along for us to encourage and guide someone else as seriously as if it was our only opportunity to pour into that other person, then our relationships would look different and our leadership sphere of influence would grow.

So let’s dive right in! How to live each day from a place of knowing today is a gift and how to lead like it could be your last chance to do so.

One: Tell other people how you feel about them. Tell them you appreciate them. Ask yourself: Do you think that, based on your words and your actions, the people in your life know you love and care for them?

That can be a tough question, because sometimes it’s a “yes of course!” and then other times it’s a little iffy.

A few weeks ago, it was the night before I was going to fly to Kentucky to be with some family and go to a conference. For the record, I really do not like to fly and I actually get pretty scared each time. It’s breathtaking once you’re in the air, but takeoff and landing, I’m on edge.

With this in mind, we went to bed the night before and I looked at my husband, Drew, and asked him: “Do you know that I love you? Do you really know that?” And he said, “Yes, of course!” It just dawned on me in a moment of reflection: If tomorrow was my last day, have I loved the people in my life well enough?

I think the same thing after I get off the phone with my mom at times. We have a great relationship, but if we hang up after I’ve been rude or impatient with her I think to myself: “What if that was our last conversation?”

So I want to ask you the same question: Have you let the people in your life know that you love them and care about them? This can be as simple as sending a quick text to a long distance friend right now and just saying “Hey! Thinking of you! You mean the world to me!”

Don’t let any ego or pride get in the way of giving credit where credit is due or of boosting someone else’s confidence by showing them your gratitude for what they have done.

And just ask yourself: Do you think that, based on your words and your actions, that the people in your life know you love and care for them?

Two: Stop comparing.

If you google why horses wear those things on the sides of their eyes (they’re called blinkers or blinders), you’ll find they’re worn to keep the horse’s eyes focused on what is ahead of them instead of what’s to their left, their right, or behind them.

The same is true in track and field. I’ve seen so many upset videos at the very end of a race when someone is so far ahead that you’re sure they’re about to cross the finish line and win. But, they get a little too distracted by how far ahead they are that they turn their head to look behind or beside them while they’re still running their race. The amount of time they lose slowing down to turn their head is enough time for them to get passed by the person who was behind them. They’ve just lost the race because of comparison.

Your life is a gift and it’s unlike anyone else’s! The same goes for how you lead, who you will lead, and towards what you will influence them. That is 100% unique and unlike anything else.

Being caught in the bad habit of constantly looking around or being jealous of other peoples’ platforms isn’t going to get you anywhere. I’m only 24 and I already have plenty of time in my past that I’ve literally thrown away, because I spent it caught in the comparison trap.

Just like how in a race, you lose precious seconds by turning  your head to look and see who is around you before you reach the finish line, you lose precious time in your journey towards where you are meant to go to be able to lead others by comparing yourself to others.

All comparison does is steal our time, and we already know that our time is fleeting. Keep your eyes on your own life, the road ahead of you, and don’t concern yourself with how other people are doing. There’s plenty of success to go around 🙂

Three: Give everything in your life your best and do only what it really important. Try not to get lost in the weeds of what seems like a priority but isn’t at all.

In The Proposal with Ryan Reynolds and Sandra Bullock, Sandra Bullock’s character starts out as one who is cut-throat and focused only on the work and the deadlines. Part way through the movie, however, she has the realization that she never took the time to say “hello” to a coworker or to check in with the people around her. She never showed any grace to coworkers or employees of hers until she realized that work isn’t life and that life isn’t just for work. Instead of getting lost in the weeds of deadlines and success, we can all use the movie’s reminder to spend time encouraging people, getting to know them, and spending holidays with family and friends.

What helps me here is to have a list of priorities. For me, it’s God first (Or, God always is what I strive for), Drew second (and family and friends), then work. I have to get myself back on that track every so often when I try to move work up to be a higher priority.

The reason this ties straight into your leadership ability is because if you were Sandra Bullock in The Proposal and you had that realization that you had just been going to work focusing on the tasks and the success instead of focusing on pouring into all the people around you, you would probably regret all that time you didn’t spend caring for other people.

Leadership of people always trumps the to-do list.

Four: Another way to lead like it’s your very last chance is actually to take more risks!

Afew years ago, I took a financial portfolio quiz. The purpose is to gauge what types of investments you would feel most comfortable making, so some people like to take very risky investments and some people don’t want to invest at all and just want everyone to be as on the safe side as possible.

I was as risk-averse as possible on that quiz. But, of course, we all have heard how people get to the ends of their lives and they wish they had taken those leaps of faith and taken those risks. In your leadership, what (not dangerous of course) risks can you take?

Can you say yes to public speaking or applying for a position that seems like a huge jump? If you fail, you might care now, but you probably won’t even remember it in a few years.

RELATED: Six Leadership Traits for Inspiring Change at the Heart Level

If I made a Spark Notes version of today’s episode, I would say it is all about thinking of ourselves less.

A phrase I hear often is: Don’t think less of yourself, but think of yourself less.

We live in a super self-focused society and a lot of us live lives where the world revolves around us. Anything we could want or need is the click of a button or a free overnight shipment away. Things are instant and a huge movement is providing a voice encouraging us to constantly look inwards and reflect. That’s great, of course, and reflection is beneficial, but at a certain point we have to stop looking inward to look outward at the life we are living and then take action.

With this generation we are in right now, a lot of people are thinking way too much about themselves and not about other people or of service. I think a lot of them are going to be super unfulfilled 70 and 80 year olds. In the moment, it can feel like we need to think about ourselves and ask, “what about me? What about how I’m feeling? What do I want?”

But when we reach the end of our rope, I guarantee the rewarding moments we have to look back on are the ones where we asked “How are you? What can I do for you? Tell me more about you?” and we thought not of ourselves and our wants, but of others and their needs.

How to lead others like its your last chance to do so:

1. Show people you appreciate them *today*
2. Stop comparing
3. Focus on what is actually important and don’t get lost in the weeds
4. Take more risks
5. Think of ourselves less

Because at the end of our lives, these are some of the biggest things we will regret not doing if we don’t do them. We won’t look back and fondly remember all the times we obsessed over ourselves. We won’t be very proud of the days when we tried to trade the gift of our lives for someone else’s life. We will just be kicking ourselves for not saying to someone that we appreciate them.

I believe we can never say “I love you” too much. We will trade in a heartbeat all the time we spend stressing over the to-do list for the time we could have had with the loved ones and friends in our lives instead.

---