Leading Oneself

Since this is the beginning post, I want to say “Thank You” for your readership and comments.

The two components of this title, leading oneself, are personal mastery and self discipline. Just what do they mean? I have heard many times that in order to help another, you must be on higher ground. To lead or help another it is paramount that you must first be prepared for this task.

Having personal mastery, which is generally identified as a continuous learning process whereby a person increases their self worth and understanding of what they believe in. This process does not always look the same for every person; our journeys are all different. How do we find the information that we need to have personal mastery? We collect it along the way from those people, institutions, and circumstances that help shape our value and belief systems, which also includes the books we read. Maybe that is how the saying “Readers are Leaders” was started. Yes, we can even learn from those who are no longer with us.

In order to develop self discipline, it helps to understand who you are. The case for viewing personal mastery and self discipline as a hand-in-glove approach has promise. Once you understand that your environment (whether you agree with it or not) orders the societal norm from which you are expected to act, it is easy to conform one’s actions into the processes of living. Who then creates these societal norms, why of course, you and I do throughout our everyday living—then the court system and Congress debates the people’s will and precedents’ decisions, which in turn describes an expected behavior and punishment from nonconforming behavior. Keeping oneself in a measure of control does produce that expected behavior or self discipline in tune with our environment and other people.

As each of us moves further on the achievement continuum, it seems as though it is easier to help another one who has much further to ascend. So, the balance of personal mastery and self discipline are contributory to the accomplishment of leading oneself. And without these tools of life is it possible that all we achieve is a denial state of misunderstanding and malcontented behavior? Again, these tools are available to those who seek them, but each takes a measure of work and interest to obtain.