"Innovate or die" | Day 7
Anytime you find yourself in solitude there was a cost to get there. And this societal solitude has been costly, but I want to encourage you that the growth to come in your life will be healthier than before if you allow yourself to let go of the old.
I feel a restlessness hovering. I’ve been in battle against worry and panic. I’ve felt a deep grieving for friends, family and our world. But you know something, this week feels more settled. The shock is wearing off. It’s a word that seems to be a common adjective among friends describing how they feel today. We’re all becoming familiar with this semi-temporary way of living. The settling I’m hearing and feeling seems to be more focused around a settling of the dust of our souls and emotions more than our expectations. I’ve had ups and downs of having high hope for the innovation and change we are experiencing and to come and then the lows of feeling the loss. It’s a strange time. One that has the potential to define a generation of businesses, orgs, cities and people. I encourage you as your soul settles to not compromise the vision for your life. But instead in solitude be ok to let loose your grip of the way you thought that vision might come to pass. We all had our programs, events, ways of doing business and now instead as the trees shake and things are forced to change, what’s left is our vision and whatever assets or resources available to achieve it. Bob Iger, the CEO of The Disney Company, says it like this, “Innovate or die.” We’re in a time of forced innovation accomplished through forced rest and if you don’t pivot and let go of an old model of living or doing business the thing you're holding on to so tight will die. But that’s what solitude is all about. Pruning.
I love house plants; my sister turned me on to them, The Plant Lady she is. I have this one plant that she propagated and grew from her plant, but it had been struggling, showing little signs of health and growth. So I put it into a new environment and was impatiently waiting for it to grow. My sister taught me that if a plant is struggling you need to cut off the dead and brown sections or else they will take all the nutrients from the parts that really need it. And if this is not done it will severely affect the life and growth of a plant. So now with this plant in better sunlight, I let it settle in for a bit and then cut off old and dead growth to allow maximum nutrition to reach the healthy parts as the new growth came.
As I’m writing this it hit me how much that relates to our lives. We’re settling into the new normal and we need to prepare our lives for the inevitable and potentially unknown changes to come. And isn’t that true of the desert? We all have those dead leaves in our lives and businesses right now that for one reason or another that we know are dead, but we just don’t want to cut them off. Here’s a few reasons you might not want to prune.
You don’t know who you will be without it attached.
You think it might come back to life and don’t want to let go too soon.
You’re afraid nothing new will grow.
You aren’t aware a part is even dead yet.
Don’t let fear, scarcity, identity or lack of awareness keep you from moving forward. If you don’t take time to find disconnection and realign your heart and purpose those dying leaves will kill you. It’s sucking the nutrients and focus of your life. I’m keenly aware and understand how painful a process it can be, but as a society we’ve been forced into this innovation, this new environment. We’ve had no choice but to take the losses. Take heart and take advantage of the moment and pluck off the old, dead ways of doing things because you’ve got to make room for the growth. And then BE PATIENT.
You know what, those leaves that I had to pull off my plant, now new vines have grown out from it. The plant found a way to innovate its growth from the new environment it was in. And we should do the same. But it doesn’t happen overnight. Solitude is not about efficiency or productivity, it’s about your heart.
So here’s the plan:
Allow your emotions and mind to settle in.
Count the cost of the inevitable change to come.
Seek solitude and realign your heart with your vision, while recognizing the things you need to let go of.
Let go, innovate, pivot, cut your losses and make room for new growth.
Be patient, water regularly and let the sun in. (For me right now this means making room to breathe, working effectively on the projects with a top priority not just with the loudest voice, sleeping well, eating and working out consistently)
Sincerely,
Your Wilderness Guide