Collaborate or Survive
Why do we love to watch survival shows? We sit comfortably on our couch munching on a snack while the subjects of the episode are utilizing all of their resources to manage the most basic functions of life, eat and find shelter. Why is this so appealing?
I think we are drawn to this as a real life metaphor for our own lives. Right? Don’t you feel like you are in an episode of some show where you are thrust into circumstances that you would never have designed for yourself? Think about where you are. Your work, family, home, community and your health.
In my last post, I listed out a process:
Define our values.
Refine our goals.
Articulate the vision.
Develop a partnership or team with those who share our mutual values AND goals.
Listen to our teams to understand the goals, dreams and gifts that drive their desire.
Evaluate how our goals bring their goals, dreams and gifts to life.
Lead the team towards the mutual goals by empowering them to win.
Celebrate the progress by shining a light on the successes of our teams.
Is this what we all did in high school? Or did we follow a path which was a mix of our own values and desires with the expectations of others for our lives? From there, much of our decisions are reactionary. Like in the shows, see food, chase it!
What if we slowed down enough to stop where we are and ask, where am I? And where do I want to be? I am certain that for many of us, we don’t do this because of narratives that are playing in our minds.
-It is too late for me.
-I don’t have any value to offer.
-I barely have enough energy to… fill in the blank.
I believe we all have some capacity to start dreaming and then slowly or not, put some things in motion that are driven by who we are and what we want to contribute to this world. There are layers of belief that have to be explored.
Who we are- we are all made in the image of God. We can all change this world. We are not created to survive. God designed us to be part of a bigger story.
Our passions- These are part of our creative origins. If we are created after the model of the Creator, then we have in us an energy and beauty that was meant to move us to build something.
We can do it- We have been given everything we need to make an impact, especially the power of collaboration!
We will regret it- Once the light comes on for us, we have a responsibility to ourselves, our community and to God. We can choose to move towards a higher purpose or live in regret.
It is not too late- Check out this list of people who started late. We CANNOT discount the early days of these stories. Our journey starts at the beginning and plays a role in what we do from here. All of our success and failure leading up to now is what we bring to our future.
Julia Child. The famously adored chef, author, and television personality created her first cookbook at 50.
Stan Lee released his first comic at 40.
Vera Wang. entered the fashion industry at 40.
Toni Morrison. won a nobel prize at 62.
Laurel Richie. founded the Boston Children’s Chorus at 69 years old!
It all starts with belief. We get to decide. What do you decide for your future?
Shoot me an email and tell me what you want to do. Tell me why. Or reach out to someone else. We cannot do ANY of this alone. Find someone who is already living on purpose and tell them that you are done surviving and you will not accept the old narratives any longer. Today is the beginning of something. What will it be?
