“Everybody arrives somewhere. Very few people arrive somewhere on purpose.”
The story goes something like this…
A family is on vacation at the beach and the kids are collecting shells. It's a well-scavenged beach, so this means that they are essentially filling their hands with fragments of shells. One of the boys notices a beautiful starfish bobbing in the water and decides he is going to wade in and capture the prize.
After several exasperating trips into the waves with the exuberant support of his parents, he abandons his quest in tears. When the parents inquire why he isn’t grabbing the clearly available treasure, he simply says:
“I can’t because my hands are full of shells.”
It is a point beautifully and poignantly made.
We are sometimes so preoccupied with good things that we miss out on what is truly great.
We are so consumed with the broken that we can’t seem to put our hands on what is glorious and within reach. Jim Collins even said that good is the enemy of great.
We encounter this a lot when we work with leaders and their companies:
- They are having a tough time seeing the forest for the trees.
- They can’t find any port in the storm.
- They are overwhelmed with the tyranny of the urgent.
- They can’t see beyond what it is right in front of them.
Possibly the most valuable currency we traffic in is “clarity." Whether it is for an individual leader’s life through Lifeplan or an organization through our business coaching, the process starts with clarity.
Let’s get clear on who we are and what we believe.
Let’s get clear on where we could go if we lived that out.
Let’s create a plan to get there.
We’ve had to respectfully agree to disagree with one prospective client. We aren’t interested in just creating a plan. We don’t think it makes sense to craft a plan that isn’t powerfully anchored in values, purpose, vision and the clarity therein. We also believe that the best version of those building blocks are discovered when a team creates them together.
To watch powerful and inspiring clarity emerge for every individual at Lifeplan as well as each team in our Strategic Enterprise process over a couple of days is a beautiful thing to behold. Once the starfish becomes crystal clear, it becomes a powerful forcing mechanism for choosing the great over the good.
- Difficult decisions on who to hire or fire get really easy.
- Where to allocate time and resources becomes simplified.
- Life for everyone gets lighter, more focused, and filled with momentum.
Why wouldn’t everyone choose that over the alternative?
His burden is easy.
His yoke is light.
His uniquely inspired purpose for your life and business is relatively effortless compared to the weight of anything else you are carrying.
It is time to drop that fragmented shell collection and grab the treasure bobbing in the water right in front of you.
- Do you know where you are going?
- Is where you are going founded in who you are and what you believe?
- Are you clear on the things that you need to drop and what you need to grab hold of?
- Are you ready to do the things it will take in order for you to live a more powerful story in your life and your business?