Distinguish opportunities from distractions in this Finish Strong Friday episode as we'll continue to deliver ways to help you master your vision. So, get into its limitless possibilities while you build relationships, share aspects of life where it matters, and visualize a better future state by tuning in to this series.
Key Takeaways To Listen For
Connect With Us
Master your context with real results leadership training!
To learn more, visit our website at www.greatsummit.com.
For tax, bookkeeping, or accounting help, contact Dr. Nate’s team at www.theincometaxcenter.com or send an email to info@theincometaxcenter.com.
Follow Dr. Nate on His Social Media
Distinguish opportunities from distractions in this Finish Strong Friday episode as we'll continue to deliver ways to help you master your vision. So, get into its limitless possibilities while you build relationships, share aspects of life where it matters, and visualize a better future state by tuning in to this series.
Key Takeaways To Listen For
Connect With Us
Master your context with real results leadership training!
To learn more, visit our website at www.greatsummit.com.
For tax, bookkeeping, or accounting help, contact Dr. Nate’s team at www.theincometaxcenter.com or send an email to info@theincometaxcenter.com.
Follow Dr. Nate on His Social Media
[00:00:00] Dr. Nate Salah
Allow people to love you, allow people to invest in you. And if you're the kind of person who will receive that, not because you're greedy, but receive that because you can then give it away and add value to the lives of others, people will invest in you. Hello, my friend, and welcome to this third installment of our series together on Mastering Vision.
[00:00:27]
We have these every Friday. There are Solo Friday episodes. It's just you and I in the trenches going through one more tool for your leadership tool belt to help you do what? Aim for greatness to thrive in serving others. That's the high call of leadership, and so as you do that, we're talking about one of the most resonant and foundational aspects of leadership vision and how to truly master our vision rathern than.
[00:00:58]
Surrender to the context we have around us. The first episode we talked about having an idea of the irresistible offer, and then the second episode we talked about creating a legacy mindset if you will. What is it that I want to have to be remembered by the tribute of my life in my eulogy when it's all said and done to guide and order my steps.
[00:01:26]
And now today we're gonna talk about very specifically different areas and aspects of our lives that are part of creating a vision that motivates us to live that irresistible offer of a life. And so what I love to do, Is spend time as big vision people. How about this imagination, dreaming, having the mindset that anything is possible, because as soon as we start thinking that, well, you know, I can't do this and I can't do that, and I can't do this and that, those are roadblocks.
[00:02:05]
They impede the possibilities. And vision by definition is optimistic. So when we're talking about vision, we want to talk about No limits, and you think, well, Nate, you know, I've thought about that before and I crash and burn, and I just don't want to let myself down or feel negative because I had too lofty of a vision.
[00:02:29]
And what I would say to that is if you aim for the moon, you're gonna get everything in the way. You know, when I used to do different types of things in my life that I thought were really difficult to do and I'd set out the goal and I wouldn't just say, okay, I'm gonna hit that today. I mean, I would have realistic expectations about what was possible day by day to make that long-range vision possible.
[00:02:55]
For example, running a marathon. You know, at some point, I could barely run a mile. So what did I do? Well, I jogged a quarter mile, and then I got my stamina up and I did a half and then a mile, and then two and five and 10 and 15 and 20, and then eventually 26.2. And so it's not that I have to think, well, oh my goodness, how can I do this major thing that I really wanna make happen?
[00:03:23]
You take it step by step, you take it day by day. And so for me, I've got very clear aspects of my vision that I ingrain in my daily behavior to move forward because every moment of progress is, increases my confidence, right? It increases my courage because small victories build courage. So if you set your life up for small victories to reach for that big victory just day by day, just day by day, but you have to have the vision anchor out.
[00:03:55]
Into the future so that you know where you're going, and then make sure that you're focused so that when distractions come and it's been said, I love how it's been said, that distractions come masquerading as opportunities. and the only way to tell the difference between an opportunity and a distraction is by checking it against your vision.
[00:04:17]
So you have to have that in place and you have to have your vision in place in different areas of your life. So specifically, what are my needs in life? Right? I start with my needs. So what is the vision for what I need? These are non-negotiables. Right. They have to be a part of my life. So for example, for me specifically, I have a need for meaningful relationships.
[00:04:39]
Like those are non-negotiable. I have to have meaningful relationships in my life to feel fulfilled, to feel progressing, to feel as if I am significant in contributing to this world. Really connection and love. So my need to grow and contribute are my highest and most fulfilling needs in my vision. So as an insatiable learner, an academic, an educator, I mean, I rest my head each day with gladness knowing that I applied my learning.
[00:05:09]
To helping someone that day. It drives me with such a great intensity. So think about what you need in life that gives you life. Remember, we're talking about waking up each morning or each evening or each afternoon, or whenever you wake up with the irresistible offer of a life. To say, this day is irresistible to me, and guess what I get to do?
[00:05:31]
I get to craft. And you say, well, my circumstances are such that I just can't; maybe I'm in a dead-end job, what I would call a dead-end job, or maybe my marriage is in shambles, or I have a terrible relationship with my kids, or my health is failing, or my entire life trajectory is going nowhere that I thought it would at this stage in my life.
[00:05:54]
Right, that's true. And that happens every. But guess what? It's not the end of the story because your life is a story. Every story, every story has a beginning, a middle, and an end. And so unless you've breathed your last breath, which you haven't because you're listening, you're not at the end. This story is still being written.
[00:06:21]
And you get to co-author this story as you continue to grow. So you say, I'm in such a bad spot right now, Nate. I can't even think about vision. Take a breath, take a step back, and begin to dream again. Even if it's such just for a moment. Maybe there's just a small window in your day and maybe you have to do something to take yourself out of a state that is in discouragement. That is in combativeness. That is in indecisiveness, and move into a state of commitment and just you have to move into a different state. And so how do you do that? Well, sometimes you do it through meditation. Sometimes prayer. Sometimes it's exercise. I know when myself and others we talk about going.
[00:07:13]
And burning off some calories, the endorphins kick in. And you know, sometimes my problems that I had before I exercised are less weighty. They're the same problems, but they're less weighty when I'm finished because what? My state has changed, my state of mind, my state of presence has changed. So if you're in a state of mind or presence, that's extremely discouraged.
[00:07:39]
Find something that will move you into a different state of mind. It could be a conversation. Speak with someone who is an encourager in your life. You say, Nate, I don't have anyone who's an encourager in my life. Find someone, there's social media, there's encouragers. Hey, start scanning your friend group for encouragers in social media.
[00:08:00]
You'll find them and and DM 'em. It's a fancy word, right? Direct Message them. PM 'em, private. Message 'em and say, Hey, look, you know, I see you're such an encourager, and man, I am just out. I am just spent. I have no faith right now in my life, in humanity, in anything. And guess what? That person may just be the person who will carry your faith for you during that time of anguish and suffering, and help lift you and guide you to all kinds of ways.
[00:08:32]
I'm a spiritual person. You know that if you've been listening to the. I spend time with God and just in gratitude and thankfulness and appreciation, enthusiasm to live. Every morning when I wake up, my first thought is I'm still here. My work's not finished yet. God, may everything I do bring you glory as I move to love you and love others.
[00:08:54]
That's my mission and it frames my day because I need that. I need that. But you can see friend. As I explain my vision for this specific area of my life, you can see that clarity powerfully guides my actions and also adds energy and fuel to how I operate today. So I start with that. I sp start with my, specifically start with your needs; what do you need?
[00:09:23]
And you'll see what's, what's lacking in your needs right now. And once you can see what's lacking, you can then begin to create a strategy to help you with that. Surround yourself with people who will help you move forward. And of course, it's not just about you, right? You say, well, you know, don't I? That sounds kind of selfish because it's all about me.
[00:09:46]
But no, it's not because there are people who are blessed by blessing. So allow people to love you. Allow people to invest in you. And if you're the kind of person who will receive that, not because you're greedy, but receive that because you can then give it away and add value to the lives of others.
[00:10:08]
People will invest in you. People will invest in you. So then I move into the next phase of my wants. What in my, my vision, my future, what do I, what I want in life? And so these can be tangible, they can be intangible for me, areas of improvement. To be fully present with every interaction, to listen more, speak less, to do more.
[00:10:34]
With less to give more my best. These are just personal for me. Those are wants, you know; ask yourself, what are my wants in life that I know are part of my vision for what the irresistible offer of a life? and then I move into the next area, which is my spiritual life. Now, you might say, Hey, I don't have a spiritual life.
[00:10:56]
I don't believe in God. I'm an atheist. I'm a deist. I am an agnostic. I have a strong faith in particular religion. When I look at. Being spiritual, you know, spirituality, I, I like the way, you know, being spiritual, it's concerned with sacred matters. Spirituality, it's an adjective, it's a, the form of the word spirit, which comes from the Latin word for breath.
[00:11:20]
So it, it means things that animate life. So spiritual things can be things that you used to talk about, anything that goes beyond mere physical existence. So for me, my spirituality is in everywhere I go, everyone I see everything I do, that Nate Salah disappears, and that the love of Christ shines so brightly that others are drawn to his irresistible comfort, his grace, his compassion, his love.
[00:11:50]
My spiritual beyond the material. So here's another one. I walk with unmitigated integrity without a blemish to my witness that I honor God with the right motives at all times by making decisions, not by what is legal or illegal, not by what is right or wrong, but rather what is wise rather than foolish.
[00:12:12]
And each morning, I awaken with such immense gratitude that my work is not finished, as I said earlier. So, I can use every faculty I have to bless those who I get to steward. And so that's my, this is my great grand vision. It's not easy to achieve. You want it to be stretch goals, right? Lofty vision in your walk, and that's gonna look differently for you.
[00:12:40]
And then my next phase is family. What is my vision for my family? So my vision for my family is very clear. I stand up for the causes that are important to my family. I invest in time for making unbelievable memories, create a model that we can all serve without compulsion, but with fervor, compassion to love everyone.
[00:13:03]
And I listen to my wife intently so that no other inhibitions present. You can see it's a big deal, right? We pray daily. Learn something new about my wife. Each and every day, even after 20-plus years, I wanna learn something new about her and that we are on this tremendous seafaring journey and the captain and the crew, right?
[00:13:26]
Sometimes I'm not the captain, sometimes I'm part of the crew, and that's okay. I have help with these experts at managing this ship. We work together to plot a course and set sale for a new shared adventure. And as far as my son, I'm totally interested in his growth, his life, his future. I teach him how to be a follower of God, a man of honor, a husband of love, father of grace, peace, and hope, and I, I invest in my brothers and sister and kids long overdue.
[00:14:02]
You see, this is the vision that I have, and as I extract this from my mind, Then what happens? Then I see it on paper and then it becomes reality because I'm inventing it and creating it, and then I can achieve it because I can then take steps toward it. Friendships. That's my next step. What are your friendships look like?
[00:14:25]
For me, true friendships are a gem. I look at the family and friendships in a very meaningful way. I wanna cultivate bonding, relationships. I wanna meet with the guys and have some fun. I want to pray specifically and deeply for one of my friends each month regularly. And so, you know, just those kind of aspects of my friendships, personal gratification, that's another area of vision that I look at.
[00:14:49]
You know? How do you approach what personally, gratifies in your life. For me, one of the things that's gonna personally gratify me in the future is publish a book or several books on business, on life, on vision. I have, my dissertation is published, but it's not for popular press. I wanna be able to publish for popular press for non-academic sources.
[00:15:10]
That's an aspect of personal gratification. On my list is participate in a full iron man. I got hurt in 2012. I had double herniation in my back and I had done several, we call it 70.3 Ironmans, which were, they're basically half Ironmans, but they're called 70 point threes because people don't want to consider themselves half of an Iron Man.
[00:15:34]
And I don't know if even that terminology is PC anymore, but anyhow, because there's iron women who are most much faster than me, I was never like the guy who was extremely fast, but I wanted to be able to finish. And because of my back injury, I couldn't do it. But I've been healing over the years and it's still, I haven't sold my.
[00:15:53]
Triathlon bike, my race bike, it's still hanging up in my garage and part of the reason why I have not done that is because it's still a piece of my personal gratification, and that's a vision for me. And so the things I do, here's the beauty about setting these things out on paper, is that you can then make choices around how you move forward.
[00:16:16]
So clearly, if I'm going to go for that, some of the things that I need to do is, one, I need to enlist friends with me who are also wanting to do that. Why? Because iron sharpens iron and we can start to work together in that trajectory. And I actually have someone exactly in mind, a member of my leadership elite group, who's also a patrtner.
[00:16:37]
And another mastermind, uh, slash coaching program that I know he's all for it. And so I have to make the commitment to do that, but because I see it as part of my vision, I can then take steps to order it. Another aspect of vision that I like to look at is charity. How about how you are charitable? And me, charity is to give where needs arise and where needs aren't readily apparent.
[00:17:04]
You know, I have to uncover and sift, but be ready to do that with intentionality. And sometimes charity isn't just money. Sometimes it's a smile. Sometimes it's a hug when someone needs a hug, and in today's day, post covid. I think people need hugs more than ever. Sometimes it's just to speak softly when someone is, needs a tender voice.
[00:17:26]
Another one is, as far as charity, don't wait to have too much before I start giving back. I wrote this on my vision not to wait too long. Why? Because tomorrow's not guaranteed. So I say, well, you know, when I have another, you know, X dollars maybe, then I will, um, give more. I don't wanna wait give where it's asked.
[00:17:50]
In fact, I started doing is I started giving wherever I was asked. In other words, if someone said, would you like to round up for the children's hospital? I'd say, yes, a dollar for this, or a dollar there. It doesn't have to be a lot of money, but I'm getting into the habit of just saying yes and giving.
[00:18:09]
Now you might say, I'm on such a fixed income, Nate. I can't do that. That's not an option for me right now. I'm not saying that that's what you have to do. I'm just saying that for me, my own vision is to walk in that kind of charity. So my mantra is he who has the least last wins, not necessarily from the perspective of I squandered it all, but that I gave it all away.
[00:18:37]
And then the next aspect of my vision I look at is health. My health is important because having a vision for health means that I will have the vigor to be able to do the kind of things I want to do to reach that. What? That tribute. So this is one of my health visions. The core is so strong that I can carry my wife as I did when I lifted it over the threshold when we were first married because my core was weak.
[00:19:03]
And that's one of the reasons why I had that double herniation. So that's part of my vision, feeling fully alive with abundant energy to laugh, love, live sharpness of mine through disciplined strengthening healthy eating choices, adequate rest, reduction of stress, rehabilitation. Another aspect of my vision are, is my hobbies, right?
[00:19:27]
Hey, what are your hobbies? You know, sometimes we don't even look at hobbies in life because we're so busy with things, you know, I love to read. I love to write. I love to speak. I love to garden. A little bit of piano. I'm terrible playing the piano, but I like to just tickle the keys from time to time.
[00:19:44]
Take my son out, go to cool car shows, share our love for the artistry, and design it and function. Just things that I can do that add more value to my day. Why? Back to the original intent and irresistible offer of a life and there's others, there's on travel on not regretting. One of my things for no regrets is to forgive everyone, to not to repent to those who I've wronged.
[00:20:11]
In the past. In fact, I did this very recently. I had a friend, an old buddy I wasn't a good friend to, we were best friends in high school. And then when we got outta high school, I started my first business and I really got wrapped up in that. And I started, uh, taking our friendship for granted. And I neglected that friend.
[00:20:29]
And my friend ended up going to the hospital for an injury and I was working and I didn't go visit him, which I needed to go visit him. And that was kinda like the breaking. Of our relationship and he didn't speak to me ever again. And I felt terrible for that. And this is, you know, we're talking about right after high school.
[00:20:47]
So, you know, fast forward 26 years. And so after I wrote this vision out, I went and, um, I couldn't find that friend, but I found my friend's spouse online. And I sent a message and just, uh, expressed my sorrow and expressed my regret and, uh, my appeal for, uh, for forgiveness in this area so many years ago.
[00:21:15]
And I didn't hear back, and that's okay. And I said there's no reason, no need to even respond, but I just want to share that I recognize that I missed it and that that I lamented over it. That was liberating. It was freeing to me. And so this is important to get it out on paper, what your vision is for your life, all these different areas.
[00:21:40]
And then of course, I talk about business too. What does my business life, what does a vision for my business life look like? Right? So my accounting and my advisory firm, it's thriving with me as a leader rather than a technician. So I move out of doing a lot of technical work such as, you know, preparing 10 40 s and things like that.
[00:21:58]
I've got great people to do that kind of stuff. My small business, my leadership, Business is serving those who truly appreciate and grow for my teachings, I serve this really diverse swath of people and communities all over the world. That's my vision. So as I begin to extract that vision, put it on paper, see it, then guess what happens?
[00:22:27]
Then it manifests itself in my mind. And then I have a very tangible set of goals, outcomes, and then I work backwards to organize those. What can I be doing today in each of these areas to make that vision real? That is the next question we're gonna cover on the very next episode as we unroll mastering our vision.
[00:22:57]
So my friend today, today is a day. I hope you take at least one of these aspects and begin to dream big on different areas of your vision for your life that makes it an irresistible offer. That when you wake up in the morning, you are ready to embrace it because it's a life worth living. Well, my friend, we did it.
[00:23:21]
I'm so honored you were able to join me on this episode of A Call to Leadership. Now, this might not be for everyone because you really have to be in a certain place in order to take the kind of steps to level up your leadership. And I want you to be taking steps, and for those of you who feel like you're ready for something like this, there's a place you can go.
[00:23:44]
You can go to our website, greatsummit.com. I'll make sure that's in the show notes. But here's the cool thing that we have. We've got a masterclass. We have all different kinds of events. We even have our leadership club where you can meet other people just like you to go deeper in your leadership journey.
[00:24:01]
You and I'll get to spend some time together and really focus on aiming for greatness. I can't wait to see you there. I'm Dr. Nate Salah, and this is a Call to Leadership.