MY FUTURE SELF! THE VISION AND VALUES OF MICHAEL THORNTON

MY FUTURE SELF: VISIONS & VALUES

Leadership:
"A process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal"
Michael Thornton

Values: My core values were instilled in me at a young age. I was Raised by a big family and my grandparents always told me what was right and wrong according to the Bible. Their traits were instilled in me to become an upstanding young man. They are the reasons I value my Faith, my beliefs, and people. I love when I can have a great effect on someones life. I love when I can do something to help someone out and motivate them to do something different. Where i'm from its hard to break out of the norms and easy to become a product of the environment. My first step was being able to attend a great University on an athletic scholarship. After that, it seemed that it became easy for people in my community to put fourth the effort to make a change in their life.

Self Image: My leadership behaviors are Modeling the way and Enabling others to act. I value both of those traits because they both represent my character the way I was raised. The True colors activity really helped me understand why I am the way I am and why I am so curious about some things. It was very interesting to partake in that activity and to understand my true colors. 

Kouzes & Posner

Tangibles and Home: I would love to own a nice home and have nice cars. I like to have nice stuff not only for me, but for my family. I like to spoil those who have spoiled me. I want to build me a home in a place of my liking and have a family of my own to share the wealth with. I want to lead my family to know that through hard work, you can attain anything that you put your mind to. I want my family to live comfortably, I would like to get married, have a few kids and enjoys my life with them.

Health: My health is very important to me. I want to be able to be active with my family. I look forward to the day when I can shoot hoops with my kids. I want to continue to live healthy because a healthy body helps with brain functions and it keeps you sharp.

Relationships: My relationships are very important to me, they are what keeps this world running. By building great relationships you learn new things and become more innovative. Whether it's you family, friends, or co-workers, it is good to keep positive relationships. You have to be able to trust people in order to gain a wealth of knowledge about something that you might not have known without building a relationship. For example, Mr. Tracy, I met him in high school and he has been a great mentor and leader in the community and he has had many influences on me that I now have the knowledge of passing on to those under me. He has been a staple in the community for years, he doesn't have to do it but out of the kindness and passion to teach our younger generation, he tries to help people everyday as best he can.

Work: My ideal working condition is doing something I love. I like to figure things out and watch them come to life. I've always had a burning passion for cars and how to make them better in some way or another. I've always had a passion to teach others and see them grow in something. My personal pursuits is to grow my community so that everyone is able to work and provide for their family. I want to start a trend so that it is realistic for everyone to have a dream and chase it if they are willing to put in the work. You not only have to be passionate about what you want to be but you also have to show charisma and have confidence. I was once told that a confident man is a man with a plan. Follow your heart and be goal-oriented. It's very important to set goals that are attainable and to be determined to not let anything stray you from them. 

Community: I'm big on giving back to the community that gave to me. There were influential people around my community that modeled the way that I wanted to take. I knew that playing sports would help me stay out of trouble and could possibly be an avenue for me to earn a scholarship and take some of the stresses off of my parents. I want to be able to help kids find their way in life and be a mentor that has been through the process and they can trust. I want to inspire others to model the way and be ambitious.

Leadership: My vision for leadership is to be influential. Be someone that others are proud to look up to. Someone in the community that people recognize for doing the right things. I am a democratic leader, I want to encourage others to do great things, I don't want to have to force people or even just let people do what they want to do with no intentions on getting the job done. 

Life's Purpose: I believe the purpose of life is to serve others. If you can affect someone else's life in a positive way then you have given them the 'want-to' to affect someone else's life. I believe that leadership spreads like wildfire if you reach enough people. It's all about the approach and how you communicate with people. Positivity is key when reaching out to our youth who will one day run this country. they have to be strong minded, positive, goal-oriented people.