As some of you may know, I am just back from a wonderful 7 day Caribbean Cruise that I earned for FREE from Tupperware. A large part of this trip was training and forward planning for 2013 with the other leaders in my organization, Power of One. Each morning we met for a few hours and then broke for the days activities (sunbathing, sightseeing...you know, the real good stuff!)
At the beginning of the week we were given a book to read to find our "word" for 2013. Oddly enough, I had already decided on a 'word' for 2013 when I composed this post here. I read the book and worked through the exercises during my free afternoons and discovered that my word was indeed my "word". We were challenged to create a poster board with our word on it and some pictures. Seeing as I had lots of time to dream and no real distractions I decided to give it my full attention and below is what I created. It may not be a masterpiece, but it is mine, and in creating it I connected to Community and explored all the different aspects if it using a comparison to a tree with myself as the trunk, the center of it all. I post it here to share with you all, my friends and family, my team, my customers and even some strangers because I want to keep it real. This wasn't some exercise to dream up and leave in a file in my cabinet. I want it to be public to hold me accountable. The poster itself will be mounted on my wall in my office so I can see it everyday and work on building up and rooting in my Community every day.
At the beginning of the week we were given a book to read to find our "word" for 2013. Oddly enough, I had already decided on a 'word' for 2013 when I composed this post here. I read the book and worked through the exercises during my free afternoons and discovered that my word was indeed my "word". We were challenged to create a poster board with our word on it and some pictures. Seeing as I had lots of time to dream and no real distractions I decided to give it my full attention and below is what I created. It may not be a masterpiece, but it is mine, and in creating it I connected to Community and explored all the different aspects if it using a comparison to a tree with myself as the trunk, the center of it all. I post it here to share with you all, my friends and family, my team, my customers and even some strangers because I want to keep it real. This wasn't some exercise to dream up and leave in a file in my cabinet. I want it to be public to hold me accountable. The poster itself will be mounted on my wall in my office so I can see it everyday and work on building up and rooting in my Community every day.
Community: To grow, we have to root.
Roots are the places in which we are safe, secure.
It is the people who we know and trust. Our home. Our leaders. Our good friends. Roots are our strength.
Growth is what we create and build.
New friends, new relationships. Neighbours and acquaintances, customers and team members. Growth is our success.
To grow our community, our success, we must also grow roots.
Too much growth, not enough root...the tree topples. Too little growth, too much root... the tree stagnates. We must venture out into new growth supported by our roots.
Growth is seasonal.
It must weather storms. Sometimes it may be stripped bare, but it will regrow if the roots are healthy and strong.
Roots too may become damaged or infected.
These must be cut away to maintain the integrity of the system, to make room for new roots to grow.
The bigger our community tree, the stronger we are.
We must maintain balance, must stay strongly rooted, so we can grow big and strong in our success.
In 2013, "Community" is my strength and my success.
