“I think truth is unified, and so I pursue the deep connections between all that is. And I see profound unity in many important concepts and forces that we perceive to infuse meaning and purpose into our human existence. I’m going to tell you about a few of them. Here is the briefest ever history of metaphysics, mysticism, monotheism, and manifestation.”

“As such I am always looking for the deeper unifying patterns between concepts and phenomena that appear disparate and unrelated.  The results seem helpful to entrepreneurs and leaders.  I’m not always sure why, but they are.  This tells me that many ambitious, creative, and passionate people are trying to figure out what this miraculous human life thing is all about, and are intentionally anchoring their creative efforts and outcomes to the deepest possible sense of purpose and meaning. “

“Here’s the good news.  That sense of absurdity is the beginning, not the end.  It’s the beginning of wonder, pondering, admitting that you don’t have all the answers, and that you’re here to search.  I find time and time again that this sense of absurdity is actually the entry point to a wellspring of inspiration that comes from realizing that, in this time and place, as perhaps never before in the human condition, we can make our own meaning, and that we have more resources, tools, worldviews, frameworks, and approaches than any human has had at any previous point in history.  Let not your heart be troubled.  Rejoice in the goodness that is your life.”

“But it’s only achieved under certain, very specific conditions. These conditions must be intentionally pursued and engineered. And the process is not for the faint of heart. It demands radical honesty about you and the human condition itself.

It only happens when you get exceptionally clear about what you want, and, most importantly, on what you’re avoiding. I don’t know why, but it’s true. And we’re all avoiding something…😏”

“Some premises that seem to be true (let me know if you disagree!)…

1. Most of existence doesn’t grow, but a little bit does (that’s MOTION vs. LIFE)

2. Most life grows in only 1 way, and then is considered fully mature

3. Humans have the need to mature and then grow in other ways

4. Premise 3 is the essence of the human condition, and the reason it feels so strange and absurd

Get it?  Grow at least twice, and don’t stop.  That’s the human condition.  And it’s different from the other ones.”

“Because you (and me, and we) have this triple gift (or curse) of consciousness, agency, and self-awareness which defines the human condition.  Your consciousness has never been, nor will it ever be again.

And your charge…DO something with it.  That something unfolds over time, and we call that your life.  At the end of your life your choices will tell a story unlike that of any other copulatory happenstantial human.  You come to at a certain point in history, at a certain place.  You exist within communities, and cultures.  You have political and economic outlooks to sort through.  You have a certain set of technological tools to wield.  And you have other people.  Many of them, each a product of similarly happenstantial copulation, and all of them who currently share the gift and curse of life along with you.  A small handful you will get to know very well.  These are your family, your friends, your teammates.  A significant part of your progress will involve meeting and learning about more and more of these fellow people over time.  And your success will always come down to one thing and one thing only: influencing them through communication.”

“It’s powerful stuff. Watch your mind carefully. Actions come from thoughts. Thoughts come from…🤔 Tap into that miracle of human metacognition, which grants us, and us alone, that amazing ability to examine and think about our thoughts, and ask yourself what it reveals about your desires.

Examine your habits, reveal your desires, and discern your vision.”

“It’s true, right? You’re constantly searching for answers to all of those. Given the content of my most honest and vulnerable conversations with people I can attest that we all are.

Rarely can we boil something so complex as human life down to such a simple formula, but in this case I assert that we can. These are perennial questions we can never escape, and with which we are all charged the responsibility of engaging in all times and places. By whom or what I don’t know. Answers vary, and that inquiry itself brings us to the first of the 5 questions.”

That got me thinking about that word, “worthwhile”. I find words so fascinating. They come down to us through the centuries, carrying their carefully chosen references to qualities of experience, and we bandy them about with little awareness. It’s good to stop and notice their meaning and structure from time to time. Let’s do that together.

“worth • while”

Wow. Do you see it? It’s actually the ENTIRE human condition in one word. So brief you could miss it, yet so potent and meaningful. Possibly the most meaningful word we use.

“Actions are not optional, and they are all motivated by some kind of framework of evaluation and volition.

If you’re a leader, who seeks to create and build, you MUST persuade others. There is no other way. So, serving as a successful leader involves awareness of this framework and successfully moving people’s motivations within it in the direction of the results that you want.

What is that framework?

It’s simple. All actions, or inactions, are motivated by one of four feelings. They are…”

“That’s it.  Try it and see.  Again, it’s really that simple.  No existence?  No problem.  No day at the amusement park either though, so you could miss out on something really great.  Your, and all of our, existence is a problem, and you CAN have a good day.  It’s your (and all of our) job and responsibility to create the best day possible.

I assert that all other frameworks that attempt to understand human motivation and behavior are built on this basic premise, even if they don’t realize it.”

“That is the essence of our human metaphysical and epistemological question.  Without narrative there is no meaning.  Meaning is the most important quality for us, and it happens to be the one that defies scientific capture and quantification.

And that’s why we can never be sure, which is the very definition of epistemological humility, which also means we must rely on faith to some degree.  To navigate this, let meaning by your currency AND your guide.  It’s really the only way we’ve ever had.”

How about you?  How is your service sacred?  I promise that it is, because the human condition is a sacred one, and the services we offer to one another in the effort to improve the condition are sacrificial and sacramental.  Trust is the bond we form as we do.  Contracts are a codification, and currency is the energetic exchange.

“Think about it.  That’s ultimately what we’re all after, isn’t it?  A world with enough security and comfort to effectively facilitate that first growth, but enough challenges and obstacles to stimulate the second growth for all people in all places.”

“As creative leaders our job is simple: keep up with the temporary delivery systems, and always remember why you are using them.

In other words, intention before tool.

So, what is the goal and intention that unifies cave paintings, papyrus scrolls, printed pamphlets, telegrams, faxes, phone calls, emails, websites, sermons, social media, etc.?”

“It’s also a RISK. Why? Because every action is an investment. Every action. Every action moves some kind of initiative forward, indicates your interest, builds something, creates something. So what are you investing in? Is it meaningful? Is it building the future, culture, and relationships that you truly want in all spheres of your influence? What is your ongoing investment returning?”

“Every act of leadership and creation you successfully execute follows the same pattern.  And I know that you are doing very challenging things, so you need to find those reserves of energy, belief, commitment, and resourcefulness from a deep, purposeful place to see you through and move on to your next challenge.  And I believe that you will.”

“Get it? We have the opportunity for leadership all the time, and we often shrink away.  It would have been easy to throw that food away, but also deeply dissatisfying to the team.  This was a real task born of frustration and aspiration, as all leadership is.  It required marketing, sales, agreements made with many parties, significant energy and vulnerability to step out and make it happen, and vulnerability on the part of the interested to investigate the too-good-to-be-true offer and navigate the agreement as well.  This act of persuading the right people, in the right volume, to take the right actions, at the right time was leadership, and I accepted the call.  People saw it, and it left a positive impression on them, as all successful acts of leadership do.  There was a collective sense of increase.”

“Yesterday I was given a leadership challenge.  You may not immediately think of it that way, but the story includes every single component in my definition of success, which is:

Persuading the…

…right PEOPLE

…in the right VOLUME

…to take the right ACTIONS

…at the right TIME

If you think about it you will find that everything you consider to be a success in your life is a result of that formula.  You need to get enough people who are right for your offering and culture to agree to your terms on a certain timeline.  Then you do it again.  If you can keep doing it you’ll stay in demand.  Lose the edge and you’ll stagnate, eventually shrink.  It’s a perpetual challenge to keep doing it, and that’s how we grow.

So, how does this relate to free pizza?  Here’s Part 1…”

“We don’t know the first step to take.  We don’t know which strategic pieces to put in place, or in what order.

There are INFINITE actions we could take.  There always are, and always will be.  Because reality is combinatorially explosive.

How do we pick the right words?  Simple.  We intend the meaning and the grammar rises to support it, deftly cutting through the combinatorial explosion.

If you are paralyzed by possibility in your leadership journey, you need to tap into the intention of your purpose so that the grammar of strategy can rise to support it.”