SPECIAL: Work On Your Dock While The Tide Is Out...And The Tide IS Out

Jason had the job of his dreams.  He was mostly working with people aligned with his values.  Working for people who were considered vulnerable and in need.  And was responsible to a board of directors who, for the most part, were cheering him on and providing the insight and support that he needed to lead this important organization towards its vision.

Daily Jason was meeting with team members and stakeholders.  

Weekly Jason was holding leadership meetings to cast vision, follow up, and implement important details of their work all aligned with their mission and values.

Jason was visiting the work sites to encourage, train, audit, understand, strategize, and lead.  Jason was learning more than he had ever learned, struggling through more than he had ever slugged through, and was truly working within his skillset and growing his skillset.

Jason also had a helpful team to delegate things to and run new ideas.  Periodically there was frustration and misalignment, but it usually was worked through with intentionality and unity.

On an extended trip to a few of the work sites, Jason had decided to perform a simple audit of operations for the different sites. He ran through operational process, financials, and culture alignment.

Of course, as with any organization Jason found that some things needed special attention, a little extra fertilizer, and some time to grow and improve.

Jason brought the full audit to the CHairman of the board of the organization.  

After a series of surprising discussions within the Board, the audit actually outed some other things that were happening that neither Jason or the majority of the board new were happening behind the scenes.  Nothing illegal, but not healthy either...and even more than that, the Board felt mis-informed by some of its members.  

An internal Board battle ensued, the majority of the board made a decision to resign on the spot, dissolve Jasons’ executive role due to by-law issues, and there Jason was.

Thirty nine years old, married, three kids, and totally unemployed.  Silence. The tide of Jasons’ professional life had just gone out.

In life, the tide comes in and the tide goes out.  The sun goes up, and the sun comes down. The clouds roll in, and the clouds roll out.

For many of us right now it feels like the tide is out and for many of us, we have never seen a tide that appears this low...or that at least seems to be getting lower by the hour.

Unknown and unexpected things have a way of breeding anxiety and uncertainty.

All of the sudden schools are out and now YOU are the homeschool teacher trying to juggle kids, a job, a home, and relationships.

All of the sudden your business is ordered to close down and YOU are the employer trying to juggle finances, employees, families, customers, banks, creditors, vendors, and inventory.

All of the sudden your throat starts to get sore and it makes you wonder…”has it come to me?”

Today I have a very simple goal: to persuade you to not live in a sesspool of fear and anxiety, worry and hopelessness, AND instead live in the bright light of belief, empathy, capability, and a sound mind. 

My goal = “work on the dock while the tide is out” 

We will NOT live in fear...but we will live believing that amazing things are just beyond the storm.

It is true...for many of you, your tide is going out right now.  

The stock market looks like this, but all you hear is this:

RIGHT NOW you have a choice.  

Will you mourn the loss of the tide?  Will you be saddened over the possible lack of luxury and wealth found in money, expensive stuff, and overextended housing in our subtle effort to impress people we don’t even really like?

OR…

Will you find NEW wealth in a walk around the block with your spouse, in four straight nights of dinner at home around your rickety table eating on mis-matched plates, cups, and plastic wear?

Will you find NEW wealth in a lingering conversation with a friend?  New wealth in a quiet moment standing on a marsh flat throwing a fly rod?  New wealth playing four rounds of ping pong at home because there is really nothing else to do?

When the tide is out...there is either mourning and sadness...OR there is opportunity and hope.

In the Business On Purpose community we are making a declaration, planting our flag in the ground that THIS will be a community of hope...THIS will be a community of opportunity...and 

THIS will be a community where the anxious find freedom

• the poor will find a new kind of WEALTH
• The sad ones will be encouraged
• The quiet ones will be our wisdom leaders
• The ones that are hungry for growth will eat their fill
• The generous ones will be generously appreciated
• THe sincere ones will find what they are looking for
• The ones who manufacture peace will subtly lead us
• The courageous leaders towards clear vision, will reach their destination

There are three real challenges to acknowledge when the tide goes out in your life:

 

• It’s Buggy

 

1. Lowcountry sand gnats
2. Chaotic, Annoying
3. Feels like thousands of tiny impulses.  Remember, “A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention” - Herbert Simon
4. TURN OFF THE NOISE of 24 hour news and social media and kill the bugs

 

• It’s Unpredictable

 

1. Jeff Campbell - My favorite thing about you is NOT your productivity
   1. Your mom says, “Why does it smell like a skunk in this elevator”...and the man standing next to her simply says, “it’s weed”
   2. Being in a boring conference meeting and one of your clients (PEARCE) sends you Dancing Banana Emoji
2. Some things are ok being unpredictable…
3. Many of the businesses that you are in right now were birthed out of the unpredictability of 2008/09 

 

• It’s Muddy

 

1. Pluff mud is a mixture of waste and decay...it smells and feels like…
2. When the tide of business is out...it can smell and feel like...

BUT, There are also three subtle opportunities to acknowledge when the tide goes out in your life:

 

• It’s Quiet

 

• You can talk, You can listen
• Share BIG Wins around your dinner table...human connection
• Result = tunes your ears to hear with precision

 

• It’s Clear

 

• You can see, You can reach
• You SEE your spouse, your co-worker, your trade partner, your child
• Things get muddy when things get busy, Marcus Aurelius says, “Ask yourself at every moment, ‘Is this necessary?’”
• Result = Focuses your eyes to see with certainty

 

• It’s Still 

 

• You can feel, and You can sense
• “All of humanity’s problems,” Blaise Pascal said in 1654, “stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.”
• We must learn to cultivate stillness, “the hardest thing is actually doing something that is close to nothing,” Abramović said
• Result = You have a heart to detect things you would otherwise not ever understand

 

When you work on the dock while the tide is out it affords you time to RE-INVEST in the things that matter most

• Not the cars, the expectations, the endless driving from event to event, and the clothes you think you have to have
• But RE-INVESTing in
• • Community
  • Space to gather, Human touch
  • Conversation
  • Memory Making
  • Providing 
  • Vision
  • Laughter
  • Emotion
  • Service

 

While the tide is out we must…

• Kill the bugs but embrace the quiet
• Consume a diet of clear wisdom instead of sugary diet of the news media
• Stand in the mud and appreciate how still it will allow you to be

 

While the tide is out…

• Do not weigh yourself down unnecessarily fretting over what MIGHT happen in 2 days, 2 weeks, 2 months, or 2 years
• Do not weigh yourself down with what you will eat, drink, drive, wear, or how much savings you lost, or don’t have ready
• Look at squirrels scampering, look at the birds landing, look at the deer standing...they don’t plant or harvest their food...but they always eat enough
• Look at the blast of color from an impatient flower, the complexity of a begonia, the pop of a spring azalea, or simple power of a lilly...they don’t procure their own clothing...but they always add color

While the tide is out, and as long as you are a member of the Business ON Purpose family and community…

• we will NOT waste our time on chaotic and unknown speculative doom.

 

• We will RUN HARD after 

 

• true things, right things, lasting things, meaningful things, satisfying things, compassionate things, kind things, hopeful things, optimistic things, progressive things, innovative things, helpful things
• Things that bring LIFE TO OUR SOUL instead of momentary satisfaction to our bank accounts (although you still you your multiple bank accounts)
• Whether you install spray foam, sell insurance, deliver mulch, manage projects, create experiences, or create a vision of the future...whatever you do, you will be an agent of transformation and liberation from chaos.

While the tide is out, and when the tide comes back in (and it will come back in)...

• Do not willfully wear the weighted baggage of anxiety...it is optional and you don’t have to pick it up
• Do not have anxiety over ANYTHING
• PLAN thoughtfully for tomorrow...
• BUT, do not be weighed down by unnecessary things that MAY come tomorrow
• Instead, bring flavor and seasoning to the people you influence
• Instead, punch darkness in the throat while bringing light and hope
• Instead, drive a dagger into chaos and despair, by choosing courage and confidence.

While the tide is out, we will plan well for when the tide comes back in.

We will not speculate...we will build a simple 12 week plan.

We will not moan and grumble...we will  build a simple 12 week plan.

And when news breaks tomorrow...we will go back to our 12 week plan.

And when the news breaks next week...we will go back to our 12 week plan.

Earlier I told you about Jason and where we left Jason was in a place of confusion, despair, loneliness, and not knowing what was coming for himself, his wife, and his three kids.

I lied, his name was not Jason.  

Just over five years ago on Friday February 27, 2015, I walked out of a North Texas boardroom unemployed.

On Monday March 2, 2015 we started The On Purpose Group LLC...or what you know as our DBA Business On Purpose.

 

Mollie Sandman sat across the bank desk and opened our bank accounts.

 

Chris Dalzell, Justin Harvey, and Gerrick Taylor all risked a coaching fee and a long 12 hour day in a small conference room to determine their vision...and today Business On Purpose has had the privilege of walking with hundreds of heroic business owners in over 40 countries around the world.

 

All for one purpose, to liberate heroic business owners from chaos.

 

For many of you this time feels like chaos.

 

Please let me persuade you otherwise and encourage you with this…

 

The tide is out…NOW is the time to make old things new

 

NOW is the time to work on your dock and in the words of Michele Williams let’s begin asking a simple question…

 

“What does this make possible”

 

TAKE 5 MINUTES TO WRITE DOWN EITHER BY YOURSELF, or WITH YOUR TEAM new ideas, new dreams, new visions that you have because the shift that we are living...and in 5 minutes I’ll give you instruction on your 12 week plan and then we will send you off to spend 1 hour working on the tactics of your 12 Week Plan