Category: Leadership

Embrace Your Attitude Of Gratitude!

By Emma Anderson, Eagle “U” Alum and Team Leader

With Thanksgiving behind us, it’s the perfect time to think about gratitude. It seems that in the excitement over food and family, the effort to be thankful is not so great. We tend to list a few things (family, friends, food) that we’re grateful for before rushing to carve the turkey.

Then what? We move on with our lives, seldom pausing to be truly thankful for all we have. This is fine, it’s normal. Everyone does it! But what successful people understand is that sincere gratitude is a powerful tool and nothing should be taken for granted. Because most people are happy to accept life’s gifts without a second thought, real thankfulness stands out. People are impressed by it and when you are appreciative for what they give you, they are likely to give more in return.

One of my favorite parts of attending Eagle U was the “I Appreciate” notes. At the beginning of the week we were each given a pad of papers reading “I appreciate _______ Because ________.” Right off the bat, Steve emphasized the importance of gratitude and challenged us to hand out all of our “I Appreciate” notes. At first, I was skeptical. I thought this gratitude would be forced and insincere. As the week progressed and I looked for things to be thankful for, I realized something BIG: All around me there were people, services, events, and even objects that I was thankful to have.

Using “I Appreciate” notes was an opportunity for me to see everything I had to be grateful for, and I still have every note I received from all of the past Eagle U programs I attended. When someone gave me a note, I felt loved and acknowledged-like I was “doing some good” in the world. Receiving these notes made me want to know the people who gave them to me even better and help them in any way I could. In a similar way, those I delivered my notes to were impressed and overjoyed with my gratitude towards them. I have applied this concept outside of Eagle U by writing thank you notes to mentors and others who have helped me in various ways. The times I have forgotten to do so, I have really regretted and the times I remembered I was blown away by the positive repercussions.

Gratitude truly is powerful and implementing it regularly will change you life!

What’s Your Number?

Every morning when we wake up there’s a giant number written on our forehead.  We get dressed and go on with our day, carrying this number with us along the way.  Our magical number lets the world know how extraordinary we are.  Each person we come into contact with can read it…

…but who put this number there? 

We did! Whether we realize it or not, each day we tell the world how awesome (or not so awesome) we feel about who we are.

Sometimes we unknowingly scribble a “5” up there.  Before we know it, our entire day has become less than extraordinary and we end up feeling pretty average.  Soon others catch on, and they start to think of us as just a “5” too.  Thanks to the law of attraction, we are now running with a whole crew of “5”s…

…but why hang with “5”s when you can hang with “10”s?

Think about it: We  get to select the number we walk around with every single day.  If we wake up in the morning and put on our “10”, everyone around us will start to notice us as “10”s, too! The truth is that the world takes us at our own estimate.  If we don’t think highly of ourselves, how can we expect others to do the same?

As “10”s, we attract even more “10”s into our lives!  The more we treat ourselves as “10”s and encourage others to do the same, the more extraordinary the group of eagles we flock with will become!

Action Item: Wake up each morning, take our your imaginary marker and draw a 10 on your forehead!

Use Social Media To Get Ahead!

Social media speak is such a big part of our everyday lingo.  I say “like” and “tag” more times in one day than my dog’s name!  And whether we like it (pun intended!) or not, who we are on social media affects how people see us in REAL life.

Sometimes we forget, what we think of as sarcastic or funny might not always be seen that way.  Social media has the ability to INFLUENCE who people think you are…or are not.

Your college admissions counselor might take a peek at Facebook while reviewing applications because she wants to know what kind of characters she’s bringing on campus!  As she’s browsing through posts, she comes across your rant from last Wednesday after you blew that math final: “UGH! I HATE SCHOOL! I am quitting, who is with me?”  If she was on the fence about admitting you, that might just tip the scales.

Be cautious about what you “like” and who you “follow”.  It’s easy for people to check out your interests and likes on Facebook.   As a hiring manager, I often checked out the social media presence of applicants.   I was surprised at the information people made public on their Facebook accounts!  Trust me, the girl who just liked the page “Lazy People Problems”, didn’t make it too far in the application process.

Sometimes, we just need to put a little more thought into the image we create of ourselves online.   Instead of shutting down your account or blocking everyone under the sun, consider asking yourself these two questions when creating your online content:

  1. What does this post or photo say about who I am?  Does it fit with how I want others to perceive me?
  2. Would I be embarrassed if a future employer, professor, or college admissions board read this post or saw this photo?

Social media is meant to be fun.  It’s also meant to be an expression of ourselves, but we can’t deny the fact that it has turned into an online platform for self-marketing.  Take advantage of that!  Showcase your skills, your positive relationships, your good nature, etc.  Use your social media presence to make future employers and admissions boards WANT you as part of their organization or school.

Your Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter accounts can give you a competitive advantage and career head start if you make the right moves.

Be Interested, Not Interesting

It was the summer after my senior year in high school and I was sitting down to chat with some of the top leaders at NBC Universal.  I started to get a little nervous.  What was I going to say?  Lucky for me, I had just spent a week at Eagle U learning exactly how to interview for information.

Back in high school, I was interested in becoming a journalist or news anchor, and I wanted to soak up the genius from people who were already out there doing it!   I didn’t want these people to give me a job or internship; I just wanted them to talk to me about their career.  What I really needed to figure out was what to say when I got in the room so I could really get to know their story.

At Eagle U that summer, I remember learning the key to interviewing for information:

BE INTERESTED, NOT INTERESTING. 

In order to show our interest in someone, we need to show that we’ve done our homework.  Before you sit down with someone to ask about their journey look up their LinkedIN profile, check out their bio online, or even ask someone who might know them for background information.

Most importantly, when you get the chance to actually sit down and interview with this person, make sure you keep the focus on their journey.  Be genuinely interested in their story and do not try to impress them with your personal successes.  The purpose of interviewing for information is to COPY GENIUS not to land an internship.

The more often you repeat this exercise with people who are successfully doing what it is you want (or might want) to do, the greater leap you will take towards your own successful future!

ACTION ITEM:

Who are 2 people you want to interview for information?  Research their background online and come up with 3 questions you would want to ask each of them. 

 

The Law Of Attraction in Action

What do you want to be doing in life? What makes you move and gives you energy?

In order to get MORE of what we WANT and LESS of what we DON’T WANT, we need to be observant of what is around us.  Leaders maximize resources.  They look at what’s around them to figure out where they can find more of the “good” stuff that they want in their lives.  Then, they FOCUS on attracting it!

Remember, the Law of Attraction never fails!  What we focus on expands.  Where our energy goes, we go!

We must continue to put forth energy and action towards continuously improving ourselves. Leaders don’t believe in limited resources.  They believe in maximizing whatever resources are available.  A leader is constantly learning and constantly attracting more of what he or she wants into his or her life.

What are you attracting into your life RIGHT NOW? Does it align with the leader you want to become?

-Contributor: Eagle U Alum, John Carney

Slam Dunk Your Success

By now most of us have lost hope on our billion dollar bracket, as our March Madness brackets are inked with RED.  Hey, at least we took a shot, right?

But looking back at the underdog teams like the Dayton Flyers, I can’t help but think to myself, how could they, against all odds, make it so unexpectedly far?  It’s safe to say a majority of people picked Dayton’s opponents early on to move to the next round, not Dayton.

Despite the cards being stacked against these underdog teams, though, many of them pressed on, further than most of us expected.

It brings us to an important reality: so often we are wrong about who or what will succeed.  We get caught up focusing on who “should” win that we forget to live “in the game”.  Each team, like each of us, faces moments when they must come to play, put their best foot forward, and compete for their goals.  

But what if each team played according to how much others believed in their ability to win? We surely wouldn’t be shaking our heads at our destroyed brackets.

More importantly, though, what if we achieved only as far as others believed we could?

Life for us is like March Madness.  When others hear of our goals and dreams, they often times place “bets” on the likelihood of us achieving these goals and dreams.  Sure, we may never know what they truly think, but what if their “bet” drove our outcome? 

We’d rarely succeed if our success depended on what other people thought of our dreams.  Lucky for us, we don’t let the “bets” others place on us determine the course of our future.

Others can “bet” (and they will!), but we will set goals and align our actions to meet those goals despite what anyone has stacked against us.

We can’t allow someone’s wager on us to determine if we will or will not succeed. 

We’ve got to work for our goals and stay focused on what we believe we can achieve.  One of my favorite quotes says it best:

“If you go to work on your goals, your goals will go to work on you.”  -Jim Rohn

Do Your Fears Wake You Up?

This week I finally got a chance to see the new movie everyone is talking about, Divergent.

Not expecting much more than a little entertainment, I was surprised to find myself motivated by the main character Tris.  Tris is part of world divided by personality and overtaken by fear.

Sometimes, we might find ourselves overtaken by fear.  The best place to look for fear is in our excuses.  What reasons do we give for not acting on our goals? What obstacles do we let shut us out from doing our best in school, on the field or on stage? These excuses shed light on what we are afraid of in our lives.

When we meet Tris, we quickly learn that she is different—a Divergent.  Unlike the majority of the people in her society, Tris does not fit into just one personality type or way of life.  Most importantly, though, her fears don’t shut her down like the rest. Instead, her fears wake her up and call her to action.

I admit, often times, I am shut down from my fears.  I use excuses to justify not trying out for the team or not applying for the job of my dreams because I FEAR I will not be good enough.  Instead of being crippled by fear, fear should bring us to life!  What if every time we faced our fears, it made us ACT? …made us greater? …inspired us to be our best?

After seeing the movie, I decided to check out the book (I know…I did it backwards!).  I quickly glanced at the front cover and read: “One choice can transform you.”

Sometimes fear cripples us from facing the decisions that will ultimately change our life. When you and I face our fears in the coming days, weeks, months, and even years, will we allow our fears to shut us down or will we use our fears to wake us up and help us make the choices that can transform our lives?

 

Are you looking for one choice that can transform your life? Check out our summer program this July 7th-11th at the University of Louisville and learn how to make the choices that will help you get anything you want out of life!

 

 

What Do Your Clothes Say About You?

Whether we like it or not, what we wear speaks volumes on who we are.  Whether you are a high school student preparing to enter college or a college student preparing to enter the workforce, what you decide to wear tells people where you want to be!

Eagle U founder, Steven. J Anderson, shares the secret to “dressing for success” below.

Forget Your Resume! Get Others to BRAG About YOU!

As Eagles, we DON’T DO what EVERYONE else is DOING.  Instead, we find ways to STAND OUT from the competition.  Sure, most everyone has a resume listing their activities, G.P.A.’s, internships, etc.  What if we were to go a STEP FURTHER, though?

BRAG BOOKS allow SOMEONE or something else to BRAG about you, your ACCOMPLISHMENTS, and the qualities that make youEXTRAORDINARY!

In college, I wanted to be part of the ENTREPRENEURSHIP program on campus.  I knew it was difficult to get into and EXTREMELY COMPETITIVE once accepted.  I needed to SHINE in my interview and STAND OUT amongst my peers.  So, what did I do? I touched up my BRAG BOOK and brought it along!

I chose not to use my entire brag book because a lot of the information was irrelevant for this particular interview.  Sometimes it’s helpful to haveMULTIPLE COPIES of your brag book that you can CUSTOMIZE for certain jobs, internships, colleges, programs, etc.  I took certain pages, MADE COPIES of them, and then CREATED other pieces that pertained to my entrepreneurial CAPABILITIES.  I made sure that the THEME of my brag book reflected the idea of ENTREPRENEURSHIP and its role in my life.   Continue reading “Forget Your Resume! Get Others to BRAG About YOU!”