Our Ho‘ohana for May: Ho‘omau and Be Strong

Our value for the month of May is Ho‘omau, the Hawaiian value of perseverance.

To Ho‘omau is to reach inside yourself and grab hold of the stuff you’re truly made of. When you Ho‘omau, you are both confident and tenacious; you never give up. The driver in you gets it in gear and steps on the gas, propelling you forward. You have resolve. Stopping is simply not an option. From Managing with Aloha:

Ho‘omau. Anything worth having is worth working for. Persistence is often the defining quality between those who fail and those who succeed.

There is never much satisfaction in giving up, and Ho‘omau is the value that will cause you to continue, to persevere in your efforts, and to perpetuate those that have worked well.

Celebrate your strengths in the face of all adversity. The obstacles that test you can actually make you stronger.

Ho‘omau. Persevere. Never give up. Cause the good in your life to last.

I have read those words several times since I have written them, for Ho‘omau is one of my favorite values. It reeks of willpower and determination. This time, as I reread my own chapter in preparing this Ho‘ohana essay for you, there was one phrase in particular that kept jumping off the page at me: Celebrate your strengths in the face of all adversity.

I know why. We are currently in the throes of a Learn-To-Lead Project at Joyful Jubilant Learning on the new book by Marcus Buckingham called Go Put your Strengths to Work, and the project is proving to be very Ho‘omau-worthy. I have always thought of Ho‘omau as the value of continuous improvement meeting up with self-improvement, and if there is anything worth working for, you’d better believe it to be your own strengths! That “stuff” you reach inside yourself to grab hold of, and to stake your claim to when you Ho‘omau, is that which makes you strong.

One of the things which makes me feel strong, is when I can get wonderfully lost in a project I am committed to. It happens because working on that project requires me to apply both my strengths and my values. The combination of being mission-driven and values-centered is a pretty heady one, and it proves to be very energizing. I am loving this JJL Project on Leading with our Strengths, and it is spilling over to Teaching with Aloha in a terrific way thanks to the exuberant support of Dean Boyer. So for me, the timing couldn’t be better for Ho‘omau as our value of the month.

These are all Ho‘omau words: just reading them fortifies me!

• Persistence
• Resolve
• Determination
• Confidence
• Tenacity
• Grit
• Resilience
• Constancy
• Endurance
• Perseverance
• Willpower
• Focus
• Drive

Ho‘omau demands you have a plan for your life (thus we worked on ‘Imi ola in April) and for your work (thus we started with Ho‘ohana in March), and this willful value compels you from within, helping you discover strength you may not have thought you possessed. In your reading of MWA, you may remember that the self-talk of Ho‘omau sounds something like this:

“I am talented. I am needed. I am valued. I am recognized. I am growing. I am learning. I am rewarded. I want to get the job done; I don’t want an excuse not to. I am ready, I am willing, and I definitely am able. I am really enjoying this!”

This magnificent month of May, I encourage you to Be Strong with me, and Celebrate your Strengths. As written in MWA, “Anything worth having is worth working on,” and I’d say that you and your strengths do qualify! There is no one else on this earth quite like you; when you decide to Be Strong and soar with your strengths there will be no stopping you.

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From the archives:

• Ho‘omau; Reveal Strengths and Talents

• Ho‘omau and the Language of Intention

• Ho‘omau; Cause the Good to Last

 

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Aloha to all who may be malihini, newcomers!

Are you wondering what this Ho‘ohana essay is all about?

Ho‘ohana is a Hawaiian value, and the subject of Chapter 2 in my book, Managing with Aloha. Here is a complimentary pdf excerpt: Ho‘ohana, Working with Intention.

Ho‘ohana is also my personal mantra. Therefore, Ho‘ohana became the name of the monthly e-letter I began to publish monthly and distribute back in 2003. It has since grown to a distribution of several thousand subscribers, and it is still sent via email on the first weekday of each month. Enter your email here to subscribe:

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Whether you live in Hawai‘i or are our global neighbor, we invite you to join our Ho‘ohana Learning Community, for we share very universal values: Our email updates and newsletters are free, sent to you with aloha.

Do join us; let’s Ho‘ohana.
~ Rosa

Comments

[Greg Balanko-Dickson]

Ho‘omau has been a huge value and rallying cry for me over 17 years of business coaching. My business is perfect for me because it offers a great deal of variety everyday.

Specifically, Ho‘omau reminds me that starting is easy - finishing well requires driving to the finish line - for me that is Ho‘omau!

Since my work requires that I help others handle challenges and tasks, I see a lot of variety and change in a typical day.

When working on a larger project Ho‘omau reminds me to finish well - it requires that I muster up my willpower, drive to the finish line, and focus on the task at hand.

When this happens I find that my Ho‘omau transforms into Ho‘ohana. Pretty cool!

Thanks for this Ho‘ohana Rosa!