Old Faithful
Humble servant.
Profoundly simple.
Easy to remember.
Easy enough for others to remember it.
But not powerful enough to get others motivated to think long enough, and hard enough, to do anything about theirs.
Here’s the 463-word Vision/Mission Statement:
Wait. That’s not it. Sorry.
That 463-word vision/mission statement has been on our refrigerator for over a decade, and now I can’t find it.
In it’s place, this One-Take You Tube video I shot two days ago. It basically covers, more or less, the essence of those two words.
So many of you won’t click on the video, because you’re too busy, too afraid, or idiotic.
And remember, by idiotic, we define it as: Someone who acts in a self-defeating or significantly counterproductive way.
Spring Grove, Pennsylvania
There once was a man from Nantucket, ….
Okay, sorry, forgive me please.
There once was a man from Spring Grove, Pennsylvania, who traveled around the country, by bus, by (someone else’s) car and by bicycle.
In 1984, he and his wife of one year, flipped a coin. Palm trees and sunshine won out over mountains and wide-open spaces.
As the years went by, he read many a good book. Gained a ton of knowledge, and even hand-crafted a personal vision/mission statement.
A 463-word vision/mission statement.
Until one day, while teaching to others the critical importance of a leader’s vision, he had a flash of brilliant insight.
The reason people don’t remember fancy, wordsmithed corporate vision/mission statements is due to one glaring reason.
With only a few glorious exceptions, they are way too fancy and way too long.
So he set out to do something about it.
And he labored and poured his heart and soul into it. He took a 463-word vision statement and made it shorter.
Much shorter.
He made it 461 words shorter. For real.
He made it two words.
Breathtaking
“To Love and be Loved.”
“Wait! That’s it? That’s all you got? Are you kidding me?”, people might be thinking.
And I say, “What? it’s too simple for you?”
Hello. Earth to astonished person. Wake up. Of course it’s simple.
It’s profoundly simple, and yet simply profound.
“To Love and be Loved.”
Most of life is simple. It’s our nature to want to complicate things, to believe, “Everything is important.”
Why? It’s remains a mystery to this very day. Perhaps it’s the whole “keeping up with the Jones” syndrome.
Simplicity is the way. The only way.
By the way, “I’ll bet you still don’t have an answer, do you?”, he thought to himself as he finished writing this blog post.
Don't Bother Me Kid
Okay, my wife says I march to the beat of a different drummer. And after 50 years, I’m finally okay with that. It’s who I am – who I want to be.
Are ya with me? Are you cool with who you are? With the way people judge perceive you?
No, really, are you? Most people are, right? Because most people are pretty “normal” (whatever that means).
But if you’ve ever felt sort of out on the edge, the fringe so to speak, it’s a fairly lonely place to be. And it takes guts to be out there.
Had to tell you all of that to tell you this: “You didn’t give enough consideration to yesterday’s challenge to have a convincing answer today.”
How do I know? Because I live on the fringes, an outsider. Outsiders know. Wish it was explainable.
So, may I ask you, again, to take yesterday’s challenge more seriously today?
You know what, don’t even worry about. It’s far too much to ask of an adult, in mid life, to have an immediate, and convincing answer to the most basic of childhood questions.
Just tell those precious young minds to run along, and not to bother you.
Mid Life: A Celebration or Crisis?
Is it?
I mean seriously, humans have complicated life, in a noble attempt to simplify it. Haven’t we?
Perhaps greed is the underlying thread that has made simplicity so complex.
No matter, we continue our search for the meaning of life and the peace we hope to gain from embracing it – if only it would be revealed to us.
Tell you what, I’ll reveal it to you tomorrow and all your challenges will vanish.
Meanwhile, mull on this overnight:
If a child asked you, “What is the meaning of life?”, what would your immediate answer be?
Simplicity
Simplicity.
“There are single thoughts that contain the essence of a whole volume, single sentences that have the beauties of a large work.” — Joseph Joubert
So here’s my favorite:
Love.
Leadership Pair-of-Boxes?
Midlife leadership paradox, or, midlife leadership pair of boxes?
Pete Blank used to work as a Leader at The Walt Disney World Resort. Now, he’s an entrepreneur and Leadership coach and professional speaker.
I subscribe to his blog and wanted to share one that is particularly relevant as we pursue a mid life celebration. Click here to read.
As we try so desperately to simplify, we apparently have complicated things and actually made them much worse.
Is this possible?
Happy New Year! Welcome 2010.
We all dream don’t we? When does dreaming big ever get old?
Big goals and big dreams are a daily thought process for me.
Big goals require a ton of work, which is why some big dreams have eluded me all my life.
What are your big dreams this year?
Do you have the indomitable will to do the things you’ve never done before?
Ever think about what it must have been like for our forefathers to tame this land we call America, or any land for that matter?
To tame it.
To make it work for them instead of being an overwhelming obstacle.
My big dream is to help others find their indomitable will. Have been working very hard at this for a long time.
Have you ever worked really hard at something, for a really long time, and started to think that it’s wasn’t worth all the effort?
I thought so. And when I get frustrated, my thoughts automatically turn to the hardships, and indomitable will of our forefathers:
Wait, you didn’t even click on the video. You’re too busy. Good luck with that. Seriously.
Simplicity
Happy New Year’s Eve, the biggest drinking day of the year, in the entire world.
What will your New Year’s (or whatever date you use) Resolution be for 2010?
How did you do with the one(s) you made in 2009?
If you are curious enough or smart enough to pay attention, you can learn a lot from what I share. But like anything where excellence is a goal, the focus has to be constant.
Not everyone can keep up. That’s just the law of nature. There’s only a certain type that has that focus and discipline. What type are you?
Looking back to my 2009 resolution to start an Internet-based business, here are some numbers, mostly for posterity (and certainly not to boast):
Humongous difference, eh?
Why? Because of:
“Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity! I say let your affairs be as one, two, or three and not a hundred or a thousand… We are happy in proportion to the things we can do without.” — Henry David Thoreau
Amen.