Too often, and I’m certainly guilty of this, our jobs, businesses, families, hobbies, become our identity. Yes. This blog is on a business website. A business that I own, sure. But, there’s so much more to the business than ships, sailing, efficiency, processes, and creating strategic plans. Before any of that, I wondered what my purpose was in life and began to write down some things that I’m super passionate about. They ended up becoming my life quotes and part of what I try to instill to the business owners I work with, the friends I have, and the relationships in my life. I have 4 of them.

Quality over Quantity

In everything I do, I try to be the best. If you’ve played basketball with me, you know this is the case. If you’ve had a business meeting with me, hopefully I was able to convey my professionalism without sounding arrogant or conceited (admittedly, I’m still working on this). When I work with my clients, I try to help them see this too. When you do less, and focus on a few things, you can be much more powerful, impactful, and have more joy over the results than trying to be all things to all people. I can only say this because I did that. I was there. I lived my 20’s at a crazy pace and tried to do too much.

Find Balance

As you may imagine, trying to do too much doesn’t really allow for moderation or balance. Taking the time to do things the right way allows for more balance in life. Don’t get me wrong, I’m certainly not perfect here. It’s an ongoing battle to remind myself that I need balance. Work, life, family, friends, etc. It all needs to have moderation and balance so no one thing become too overwhelming. I have noticed that when I truly find balance, I’m much happier, able to enjoy the little things, communicate better, laugh easier, and live more. Being balanced doesn’t need to be shackling. It should be rewarding because it allows you the ability to choose what you spend time on and enjoy those things.

Live with Impact

When I go about my day, especially at work, I remember that my actions and words impact others. This can be a positive impact or a negative impact. Even ignoring others leaves an impact. To me, “live with impact” means that I’m intentional with my time, my resources, my attention, and my relationships. Everything has a purpose. If I can learn from others, teach others, and help others in a time of need, I’m living with impact. In business, my goal is to provide such a great service that my clients take what I’ve imparted and applied to their businesses and lives in such a way that others notice a positive change in them.

Leave a Legacy

My staff probably is already chuckling at this quote. In everything I do with them, I’m creating processes, templates, written procedures, providing feedback, and teaching. I want to build a company that is self sustaining, yes. Even if the team decides to move on to other things, I hope they can look back on their experience with Strategic Voyages and realize how much they’ve learned. Learned not just for themselves, but learned how to teach others. I’m trying to create a team of teachers and stewards of knowledge. Similarly with clients and other professional contacts; I try to teach them why I do things the way I do. This helps to not just understand my process, but it invites others to ask a self-reflective question; Am I leaving a legacy?

The application for these life quotes goes way beyond work. My kids are young now, but I’m working on having and maintaining the type of relationship where I can teach them how to do things the right way, how to have balance, how to live with impact, and how to leave a legacy for themselves too. If I can do these things with my kids, I’ll know I left a legacy.