I have spent the day supporting some dear friends through deep waters.  Last week it was a family member, next week, who knows.  I have been in the helping business for a long time now and over the past quarter century have seen most of that which can be seen.  As a leader and co-creating partner with many leaders all over the world I have learned that real growth only comes through intimate contact and intimate contact forces you to know how people laugh and why and when they cry.

Some people find this lifestyle exhausting, and if you are not careful it can be.  Some people think the solution is to remain aloof and apart from others you are choosing to influence and attempt to lead from a distance.  It does not work.  True Co-Creation Power only comes through open and honest interactions that can then become transformational.

The key to this lifestyle is balance.  Balance requires first that you begin to trust you own sense of balance.  There are times when you have scheduled yourself into imbalance and ineffectiveness.  Without an accurate sense of balance you will never be aware of a dangerous or disingenuous relationship until it is too late.

Are you living your life to the ragged edge? 

That is not a compliment.

It is a symptom of someone I would choose to not Co-Create with.

Beyond your own sense of balance your need two other ingredients to develop balance.

1.  Rest, knowing what your schedule is and learning to live by it.  I witness so much wasted efforts by leaders.  There is no "No" in the vocabulary.  If there is one they are saying it to the wrong people.

It is a reluctant "No" to family who need the time, love and attention.  It is an angry "No" to their partner who they should be prioritizing but they have sublet their vows for their goals.  In life you must learn to say "No" or your "Yes" is just a lie, it is a "No"  you failed to have the courage to say out loud, or to the right people.

2.  Beyond appropriate rest there is the need for honest and open relationships.  These are not people who work for you, these are people who just know you and love you for who you are, not for what you can do for them.  The more successful you become the more difficult it will become to find these folks.  But trust me; they are too important to your long term health and power to forget about these relationships.

Isolation and Fatigue will make cowards of us all.  In our cowardly state we will miss the opportunity for true greatness.  We will fail be the magnificent creation we are destined to become.  We will fail.

But failing is optional.  You can choose today to choose something greater.