Josh Allred's Blog

As kids, we played this all the time. In fact, we jumped at the chance to be the one who led the rest of the group. So, what happened?

The hard part about taking action is that it isn’t something we are used to doing anymore. That has been stamped out of us. Meaning that we have been trained to be compliant workers: follow the rules, follow the steps, follow the map.

Leading is about throwing away the map and deciding which direction to take. We don’t want to mess things up and when we do the people around us look at who’s in charge to blame. This is the crux of leadership. Understanding which voices to listen to and which to ignore.

As kids, there was no wrong answer about where you wanted to lead the group. Perhaps, we should return to some sort of semblance.

We have built are culture around scarcity. As a result, we create a market around this. Highlighting all the wants we don’t have. The great lie is we think if we can fill it with stuff then we will be happy and complete. But there is always something else to be had. That is what the market does. The alternative, is to step out of it and find something else to fill that void. Not with another trip or product. Something more. Something that we don’t take but instead give.

We don’t get to choose the perfect moment to accomplish the goals we seek.

We choose the work. Not the environment. Not the conditions.

Control what you can control. That’s it.

In the heat of the moment, it is essential to remember who you are talking to.

You are not talking to the person you know. You are talking to their amygdala.

The amygdala reacts 2 seconds faster than our prefrontal cortex, also known as the human brain.

That is the part that can reason. The amygdala has no capacity for this, so don’t even try.

The capitalists demand 110%, but that is just silly. No one wants to or gives that every day.

What’s important is to give your all when no one expects anything from you. When you are off the clock and doing the work you care about.

That is what we should be doing to preserve ourselves to give everything we have in spurts for the people who need us the most.

It’s a figure of speech about correcting a process that is not proceeding properly.

The problem we have today is too often, we look to our left and right to see if the ship we are steering is going in the “right” direction.

There is no right direction.

What needs to be decided is what direction you want to go.

The ugly part of us thinks we don’t belong. But the truth is that the ugly part is interconnected with the parts we are proud of. Perhaps, trying to separate ourselves from the parts we are ashamed us, we can learn to sit with it. Make peace with it. Become comfortable with it.

“What if I’m not like the others? A broken man, a Frankenstein.” — blink-182

To absolve tension, we want to flee whatever is causing it.

As a result, we look for exists from jobs to relationships.

Instead of looking to escape, we could try to sit with it and see what happens.

I know we lived it. Because we were there. But it now seems like a dream. It exist only in our minds. While being able to transport ourselves to the past and imagine a future is a useful skill, it is also important to remember that we shouldn’t try to escape the moment no matter how bored, tired, or hurt we are. Because one day we will look back say wow that did happen.

Mental health is on the rise because the lives we have been pushed into but didn’t bring the meaning we seek.

As a result, we revolt against the current environment. But we feel stuck with the current conditions.

Mental health is marketed as a coping tool to the current conditions. But what it should help us recognize our potential and give us the tools to see a better path forward.