Man in the Mirror

This week we learned about some very valuable things to me! On Monday we were taught about how to find the best qualities we have as leaders and then to make the best out of those qualities. This is valuable because I think that many people focus too much on their faults. This benefits no one; it just brings others down. We also took a quiz on line that told us what personalities and traits we had. For the most part it was quite accurate.
One of the qualities it said was that I am like the "mother." This is so ironic because everywhere I have gone, people have pegged me to be a mother. On all of the sport teams I played on in high school, people always looked to me as mom.. I just really like to take care of others. When I arrived at BYU, after a few weeks of living with my new roommates, we all were given roles in the home. Yes, I was pegged as the mother of the apartment.
Back to the topic of finding our best qualities and then perfecting them, I found that this was a great tool that I can use in my leadership role. As Relief Society President, I often find myself and others comparing themselves to others. It is hard at BYU because everyone is the best at EVERYTHING! Everyone can sing, play 5 instruments, has a 4.0, can cook, and basically seems perfect. But in reality, no one is that good at everything. I need to work harder to find what I am good at and then expound on it. I think that when my ward starts to do this, we will become closer together and be very successful because we can build off of eachother.
This week, my goal is to find two people that look like they are having a hard day or are down on themselves and then go talk to them and help them find how talented they really are. All of the girls in my ward are beautiful inside and out. I think one of my talents is helping others to feel good about themselves. So as I try to strengthen my talent, I hopefully will be encouraging them to look at the "man in the mirror" and find the best of who they really are.
Its going to be a GREAT week! :)

Service

This week has been an especially wonderful one!!! Full of service and lots of smiles. I loved Monday's lecture where we were taught how to integrate leadership into all aspects of our lives. I learned a lot on how Divine-Centered leadership is not just for religious things in our life but EVERYTHING! Wednesday's class was by far my favorite so far. We had the opportunity to go out and serve people on campus for about 20 minutes and it was a blast!!! I love to see people smile.

This week in my RS calling, I plan to work harder on the simple acts of service. I learned that by just bringing a smile to someone's face we are doing an act of service. If nothing else, I hope to be able to bring smiles to all around me. That is my goal for this week!

Divine

So this past week we were introduced to Divine-Centered Leadership! It is such a great way to look at leadership. I learned so much and I am excited to include some of these characteristics in my own leadership position. One point that I especially liked was under Motive. It was the step of "DO." We start off with a desire, and then we seek, and then we come to know, and then we finish by DOING! I learned that I can have all of these great ideas and goals to reach as a Relief Society but it is not until we actually take action that the things we are striving for actually come to fruition. I am going to try and integrate this quality of DOING into my calling this week. I want to actually visit some sisters and let them know that I am thinking of them. So for this week I will work on that goal, and next week I'll have a new goal!

A History of LIFE

This week we learned about historical leaders throughout history. It was really cool to look at some of the traits that have made these leaders last through time. They were influential and had a group of people that wanted to follow them. It was interesting to see that not all leaders did good things but all found a group of people that would follow them and then influenced them to do what they wanted. Some gave great speaches and others led with love.
As I apply some of the qualities that great leaders had in the past to my current role, I realize that I work on some of these daily. I know that I probably won't ever become a famous person but there is one thing that I know for sure... the leadership qualities I am working to acquire now will last forever. No matter where I go and what I become, I am going to influence people around me. Right now as I work at becoming a better Relief Society President, I hope that I can be a leader that influences people to reach their full potential. I hope that something I do will benefit some of the girls in my ward. Through all of this I have learned that we all grow from each other and I hope to be an example to all around me.

Knowledge of the week

Today we were asked to blog about what we learned from lecture on Monday and how to apply it. I think the lesson that I learned most was that there are so many qualities that a leader can have. Sometimes it is a bit overwhelming. I came to realize that it would be extremely difficult to have all of those different qualities. This is why we work in groups... sometimes others can do something that I can't. Leting someone else lead is part of becoming a good leader. As I work on my new leadership role, I plan to try and incorporate more of these qualities into my work. I hope to be able to take the iniative when it seems like everything is a jumbled mess. I also hope to become more supportive of others ideas. Communication is key. Without it everything else falls apart. These are just a few of my goals to start the semester off. I obviously don't have all of the qualities of a good leader but that doesn't mean I can't work on attaining more.

Day TWO: Lead... Life... Love

My first assignment in my Leadership class is to declare a leadership role that I will focus on during the entire semester. I have chosen to use Relief Society President as my leadership role (pretty leadership intensive if you ask me). LEAD: My calling as RS Pres. has taught me how to become a more effective leader and how to influence people to become the best they can become. I hope that through this I will become a better Leader by gaining the trust of the sisters in my ward and becoming closer to them. LIFE: I hope to make this calling (and leadership role) a part of my everyday life. Truly effective leaders are people who are constantly thinking about those they serve. LOVE: I want to love those I serve. Service does not sound like leading but I think that leaders can learn better qualities by serving others. Leaders don't always have to "lead" sometimes taking a step back and letting others take charge can result in a better outcome. 

Quote of the day: "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." - Martin Luther King Jr.

DAY ONE

Wow, I truly thought/promised myself that this day would never come. And here it is. My resolve crumbled. My leadership class requires this and I had a grand time coming up with a name so... here I am. BLOGGING! YAY! A new journey awaits me! hehe