Our minds are full of how great, how cheap, or how sexy your product, service, or idea is. We can’t fit any more of this in.
However, we do have the capacity/desire to be educated on how your product, service, or idea can lead us to a better life and a better world.
Look at Zappos. They teach and show the functionality of every pair of shoes via video stream. Shoe teachers if you will.
Look at Apple. Their stores are not so much stores full of products, but one full of teachers. They realize if I can teach you just one new thing about your iPod, it will become that much sexier in your eyes. IT teachers if you will.
Look at Gary Vaynerchuk. Every day he teaches about a specific wine. He knows that if can teach you to appreciate the vino, you will buy the vino. Professor Vino if you will.
The Internet is a massive sea of how to and how to appreciate and the companies that will dominate in the years to come are the ones with an eye peeled for those with raised hands.
You teach. They tell.
What team won last year’s Super Bowl?
Who was last year’s Super Bowl halftime performance?
What was the funniest ad from last year’s Super Bowl?
Hard to recall, right? And yet it was the only thing talked about 365 days ago.
How quickly we forget the rage, the big news, and the chatter.
How will you reintroduce yourself to the world this day?
In all seriousness, a handshake today is probably worth more than last year’s Super Bowl ad.
We’re told to keep our eye on it.
We’re told to move it forward.
Unfortunately, most of us rarely know where the ball is and if it is moving forward or not.
Awareness is the great predecessor here.
The ball belongs on the court – not kept in the closet and forgotten.
Today I celebrate my 10,950th sunrise on planet Earth.
Here’s a quick rant and recap of what I’ve found (or what’s found me) in these sunrises….
Before age 22 everything is about the finish line: finish your veggies, finish your paper, finish studying, finish high school, finish college, finish your resume, etc.
And while all these things can be finished…they still leave us longing for more. I believe the longing comes from not being responsible for the start of what you were asked to finish. The veggies were forced (for good reason of course), as was the test, the paper, school, and probably the resume. None of this was our idea, so when they were finished we were…well…finished…and finished does not necessarily translate into satisfied or fulfilled when it is something you didn’t think to start.
Perhaps it is simply permission to start something that our youth needs – not necessarily the “opportunity.”
Today I’ve found that what I’m truly after doesn’t have a finish line and every day in this pursuit feels as though it’s day one. To be able to write, understand, and speak this is richness found in my life.
I don’t want to finish growing, being a father, being a husband, or being a thought leader…a finish line is the furthest thing from my mind in regards to these pursuits.
If you’ve never been given permission to start…consider this your invitation.
Secondly, two years ago I began to learn and study things that truly excited me. Things like high performance, building things with meaning, living at your full potential, and living a great story.
I’ve found for all these things to happen there’s a fight.
We fight for experience against resistance with intention.
We fight for connection against resistance with soul.
We fight for awareness against resistance with focus.
Nevertheless, this is a fight that never ends…we can only hope to contain the resistance that blocks our efforts for experience, connection, awareness, meaning, and hope.
In all reality, resistance makes all of these things worth the pursuit…so either welcome him to the ring or don’t be shocked when he arrives.
Forget the finish line and fight the fight tooth and nail.
For me, this is what 30 looks like.
PS – This is a rant – and should not be graded with a gramatical lens.
Ashton.Gustafson 