My sister-in-law heard John Jacobs, founder of the "Life is Good" brand speak a few months ago. She thought of me with his philosophy of "Optimism", which always touches me as I don't feel like an optimist. She got me an autographed copy of his book, and I am thoroughly enjoying it. I always love to understand how companies came to be - how they became inspired and what adversity they overcame. This is a DOUBLE-WHAMMY because its a fantastic business book, AND it's all about a philosophy or a way of thinking that I am clearly
drawn to,
motivated by,
inspired by.
I don't think I am an optimist because I don't expect everything to work out RIGHT, or well. I expect to make mistakes, alot of them. I expect not to take the best path forward. But, I expect to try my very best and enjoy the ride at all costs.
It's like I start reading about things like optimism and I am drawn to them like a mosquito toward a light.
Everything else in the world seems to become dulled and irrelevant as I am entranced by the words of the story or the philosophy.
I want to know them. I want to understand them. I want to live them.
And, EVEN if I have heard them before...
Reading them again refreshes me, reminds me, reinvigorates me...
Those people who say, "Yes, I've heard that before..." They are not WANDERING!
And, its not just the desire for the successful creation or execution of a company...
But to have to live with AUTHENTIC courage
something that I believe and more, desire or aspire to, with great conviction...
To CHOOSE courage and authenticity over the easy choices.
Anyway...
did I tell you that I am LOVING this book. "Life is Good: The Book" by Bert and John Jacobs.
I hope you find it and read it.
I could probably write about it for weeks and weeks.
Among other things, in it they discuss their 10 "Super Powers" that they have as a company. I will share them in a different conversation, but the cool thing is that we all have the ability to leverage these super powers. They don't include flying (where our feet physically leave the ground).
They share some of the early T-shirts throughout the book.
It is fascinating how the singularity and simplicity of the message gels over time.
But there was one that caught my eye, my heart and my mind.
"ALL WHO WANDER ARE NOT LOST".
It pushed my buttons for a hundred reasons.
I have often been accused of "not making up my mind".
I am so often asked questions on decisions that I have not yet made (in most cases because they are not needed yet).
And, yes, this is something that I need to work on, because as the leader when you allow people to see you "WANDER" - many who seek specificity and direction feel afraid, unsettled, or under led.
I am ALWAYS WANDERING... and I am NEVER LOST.
I WANDER in EVERY MOMENT...
That truly is how I believe we must live to achieve HARMONY.
We must WANDER to understand what is TRUE.
We must WANDER to understand and find the path toward our WANT.
It's when we FIX our path and feel like we must STICK TO IT, that leads to WISHING we could find a new one... and thus disharmony.
It's true, many times I am searching for a path through or to something.
It's true, many times I am exploring the possibility of better paths.
It's true, I am trying to wander, at least briefly, in every moment.
But, I never feel lost. I never AM lost.
I am always wandering with a fairly specific set of questions, with a fairly specific set of objectives, with a fairly certain sense of who I am, and with a very clear idea of when I need to stop wandering...
But, I LOVE to wander...
I am WANDERING for harmony.
Why not wander?
The moment we stop wandering, we stop seeing, we stop searching for new ideas.
I am convinced that it is the ability to consider NEW and BETTER ideas that keeps us young, keeps us current, keeps us relevant, keeps us interesting, and for people with a curiosity for life and improvement, keeps us alive.
So often my wandering is misunderstood. And, I have to do a better job of helping see where I am wandering, so they can come and enjoy the exploration with me. And, I have to realize MANY people are just not comfortable in the unknown space of wander. They always want to know where the path is - even if its limited, even if its not the best possible one forward, even if it may not even get us where we want to go... they like the certainty of a path... to make sure they know they are not lost.
As we near the end of the year... allow yourself to WANDER about your options going into 2016.
Be less fixated on setting goals, and more committed to letting the questions and the possibilities lead you... into exploration.
While I wander... I am FREE... Anything is possible... EVERYTHING is possible.
But, I am always wandering with a purpose... unfortunately.
I wish I could wander completely free, and not just be searching for the better path to a known destination...
I want to wander free enough that even my destination is in question... to see where my soul would take me...
And, even then I would not be lost. I would be following my TRUE... I would be led by my subconscious questions... Even then, I am so very certain, I would not be lost.
You see, for me, being lost is having no compass, not having no map.
And, as long as you are clear on your values and on your purpose, you always have a compass.
As long as you can always tell who YOU are when you come to a choice, you always have a compass.
The map... heck... there are countless ways to get there and so many people are fixated on the DIRECTIONS!
I hate DIRECTIONS.
I ultimately don't like GPS...
I want to discover my own life... I want to be surprised by my own journey... I want to live my biggest life possible for me, from here forward.
And, the ONLY way to possibly accomplish that...
I believe,
is to allow yourself to WANDER..
in the big and in the small....
I am so comfortable and certain in my own uncertainty.
To WANDER never LOST...
To WANDER...
To BREATHE...
To EXPLORE...
To FIND... TRUTH
To BE... FREE
and
In harmony,
Nestor