A chair was made for one purpose–to be sat on. And by not sitting on the chair, you are not fulfilling its destiny.
Obviously, we are not chairs but I do like to think each of us have some kind of eternal destiny. That each of us are capable of creating meaning out of our life’s work.
The point being that each of us grow frustrated when we are not being used to our full potential.
Some days are good. Others are bad. Some are tiring, long, busy, and on and on.
Despite how you felt about the day, the day doesn’t care what you think.
And if you are too busy working to get the environment just right in order to be productive, you are going to be wasting a lot of time.
Perhaps then, instead of focusing on the mood, we should be asking how are process is going?
The work of a professional lies in this sphere. Showing up even when we don’t feel like it is the key to unlocking success.
Everyone sees it but everyone is afraid to talk about it.
It’s easy to point out the elephant in the room though. If problems were that big to begin with we would never let them in the door.
But problems rarely start this way. They start small and seemingly insignificant. And then grow over time.
The bigger the problem the less likely we are to work towards solving it. Which in turn compounds the problem.
A friend wanted to start a business and was asking for some advice. After hearing the elevator pitch the questions I began to ask were:
Who’s it for? What is the smallest viable audience that you need to sustain a living? Kevin Kelly talks about 1,000 true fans, can you get away with even less?
Think about the long tail. You are not going to be the next greatest hit. Instead be sustainable further down the tail.
How can you be best in the world? Not the entire world but the world that your customers are willing to drive to.
Are you finding customers for your product or products for your customers? They are very much different. The latter being much easier to get through the dip.
How can you cut overhead? What can be done for free and given away generously?
Let’s see your portfolio. If you don’t have one, how can you build a portfolio? Why should we trust you?
Are you cheap or expensive? Why not charge more? Are you not worth it?
The legendary scene reminds us that the way to get through to each of us isn’t by following the script we have been handed. That the opportunity we each have to connect, to teach, isn’t by following the step-by-step set of instructions. But to listen, to inspire, to tell stories that resonate with those you seek to change. Regardless of what the status-quo says we should or should not do.
Isn’t that what we all want? Authenticity. Something real. Something worth remembering. This is what art is all about. Bending, stretching the rules and culture norms to make change happen.
Quit following the script and be prepared to disappoint authority–those who have spent their life to uphold the system that benefitted from it.
Our nonprofit brought back mask requirements sooner than most. And it really ruffled some feathers.
Anonymous people doing anonymous things. Sending hate mail behind a computer screen. Trolls who don’t even live in the state of Utah coming out of the wood works.
All because someone didn’t think it was fair to wear a mask to a free rock climbing clinic.
The irony is, they didn’t pay for the program and they had no intention for paying for our services. Instead, they overreacted to a policy that interfered with their worldview.
We could have overreacted too. We could have tried to compromise or explain our actions. Instead, we ignored the trolls.
Not everyone is going to agree with the work we do. And the one star reviews are not going to make our work better. Why change for anonymous people?
If it’s not for them, it isn’t for them. Our work is for somebody. Not everybody.
So let’s just get this out of the way:
We are truth seekers. We believe in science. We believe we are in the business to help people. And that means, for the time being, we need to wear masks to protect students, the staff and their circle of people they interact with.
Further, just so we are clear, if people think that coming to Pivot Adventure is going to “make them gay”, we can show you the door. Yep, we’ve had comments like those. Inclusive doesn’t mean we pick and choose and exclude others because of who they are. This is a course to build resiliency. And if you are ready to learn, to take a leap forward, we’re here for you. That journey can take many years and Pivot Adventure is here to help speed that process.
If that doesn’t work for you, that’s fine with us. We will keep doing the work we do. Because it’s important and it matters. Not to everyone. Not for the trolls. But to the people we seek to connect with and help light a spark.
It’s not possible with our finite brains to be empathetic to everyone. To a specific group of people who can’t get a vaccine and want to get one or to those who are at high risk, we mask up. And by making that choice, we are making others upset. We can’t make everyone happy here. We have to make a choice. And we are okay with that. We didn’t do it for them. And since millions of children are not dying from wearing a mask, we are sticking with our decision.
Lastly, if you didn’t pay, you don’t have the right to boo. You don’t get to complain about voluntarily showing up to something you didn’t pay for. If it’s not for you, give your spot up to someone who needs it. A simple, “No, thank you” would suffice. Why tear down a nonprofit trying to help teens get outside to improve mental health? Did you not have anything else better to do today?
When we believe the end justifies the means, there is no telling what people can do. Which is why humans can justify atrocities like slavery. You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to understand when someone else is in pain. Yet, in the moment, when we reduce someone’s status to a number or use a label that is inferior, we are now on a dangerous path.
It’s easy to always be upset if you set the bar so high that you can never reach it. No wonder you are always disappointed.
But if we are setting imaginary lines, we can always set it somewhere different.
Nothing wrong setting it higher or even out of reach from time to time. But the bar for perfection is just an excuse to hide or to berate the world.
The culture is always changing. Morphing, evolving into something new. Constantly.
People, however, want things to stay the same. To have a more safety and reliability. A predictable world.
The intersection of where culture and people meet causes drama.
Not for the culture, of course. Because the culture doesn’t care about our feelings.
The more time we spend wishing for things to be different is time wasted that can be used to push back.
Separation is the core problem to poverty. Us and them.
Create a system that is there to help those in need and then blame the system when it doesn’t work. “Not my problem.”
We love having someone to criticize, especially when there is no face or name to the problem. “Someone else is to blame.”
And it’s easy to ignore problems when they don’t show up on our doorstep. The age old question, if a tree falls in the woods and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? Physically distancing ourselves makes it easy to pretend problems don’t exist. “What problem?”
Labels are another way to dehumanize people. You are no longer human, you are homeless, an addict, a convict, an illegal alien, an orphan, someone with a disability, gay…labels create division and classes.
Statistics take out the humanity in reducing people into numbers. “A single death is a tragedy, a million deaths are a statistic,” Joseph Stalin.
The common bond is we are all humans. With hopes and dreams and fears and insecurities and stories. We can tap into the humanity if we decide to show up without judgement.
Sure the problems of inequality are enormous. No one person is going to bring balance. But the choice is small to extend a hand. Adopting a posture of generosity and kindness. We don’t need your opinion. We need you to stand up and make a difference.
Josh Allred's Blog 