A.S.K.

I was walking behind a young man in a sports complex and on the back of his shirt were the big letters: ASK.  So of course I did.

I asked him what ASK stood for or was I just supposed to ask him a question and he would answer?  He smiled and then kindly explained that it stood for Audacity, Service and Kaizen.

You see, he was a basketball coach at a college, and I knew that whatever those letters were, it would be some sort of motivation tool or leadership tip and I would not regret asking him for an explanation.  I also knew that whatever those letters stood for, it would let me capture a glimpse into his leadership style.

Audacity.

Do I have the audacity to continue to improve?  Do I have the desire to be the best? To conquer fear? To take the next logical step in my career path, even though it means a commitment to more work, but a really great reward?

Audacity is a challenging word that inspires me daily.  When I think about audacity it makes me think of daring to be better.  Daring to put in the extra work. Daring to write about a subject that may not be well received.  Audacity also means to take that step of faith, even if I can’t be sure of the outcome. Trusting that God will take my effort and courage to move forward, and work all things together for good.  

Service was the next word. For anyone to succeed in life, they need to learn how to serve.  For some of us, this is as natural as pushing open the screen door on your way out of the house. But for others, they have to be reminded to push instead of pull or they have to be told when to push and when to pull.  But if you’re not willing to serve anyone or at anything, don’t be surprised when you find yourself isolated and devoid of influence.  Those who are not willing to serve will look behind them and see few willing to follow. 

And that last word is one I had to look up, Kaizen.  It sounds like some middle eastern religious doctrine or maybe even a yoga pose.  But really, it’s the definition of slow, incremental improvement.  It seems this is something I need to be reminded of lately.  My all or nothing mentality takes over when I only have twenty minutes for a workout instead of an hour. If I can’t get my whole workout in then I might as well sit down and have another cup of coffee…..and maybe another muffin.  But if I took the Kaizen approach, I would seize the moment and take a twenty minute walk and while it would be a small step forward, it would still be incremental improvement.  Strength doesn’t come from exercising once a month, but a consistent practice of training and it may be slow, but it’s much more beneficial than a sporadic regime.

What do you need the audacity to do?  Are you facing an attractive challenge, but you just can’t muster up the audacity to take a step of faith?  Or maybe you need to exercise your service muscle?  Or like me, you need to get out of the all or nothing mindset?  Now you have one word to remind yourself of what you need to do.  Just ASK.