I published a sentiment on facebook this week...
"In order to become who I have always dreamed of becoming, I must stop being who I have always been."
The thought came to me as I was sitting at a start-up that was reinventing the world.
That company did not exist 10 years ago.
My company existed 30 years ago.
If you are focused on "being better", which I take pride in proclaiming, you tend to take iterative steps toward better, building on who you are.
And, that is noble.
And, that is SLOW... and LIMITED... and what the MAJORITY of those committed to excellence do...
THE MAJORITY
I do believe that the majority of the world has given up on their dreams... if not consciously, then subconsciously. Life is overwhelming and challenging, and I do believe that the majority of the world just goes through the motions.
The world sets the pace and these people are simply trying to keep up and most often the gap grows over time.
THE MINORITY
Then there are those that are conscious and trying to improve. I probably fall into that category. And, we tend to focus our improvement on how we do what we do, on who we are... That is asymptotic... and at times frustrating
The world sets the pace and these folks do a better job of keeping up - as best as they can. The main difference between these folks and the ones above is that these folks "take" and "feel" more control, and typically more joy in their journey.
THE ONES
And, then there are those few... THESE ARE THE ONES... who change the world. These are the people that are able to redefine themselves over and over. They are able to shed their old thoughts like a snake sheds its skin, and start anew with greater wisdom, over and over. These are the Steve Jobs, the Zuckerbergs, the Southwest Airlines, the Ubers, the Blue Oceans, the Mother Theresa's, the Ghandhi's....
These are the ONES whose PASSION defines their CAUSE, and whose CAUSE defines their passion.
These are the ONES with true integrity.
THE ONES WHO CHANGE THE WORLD...
The ones who are TRUE leaders... innovators...entreprenuers
Those are the ONES I dream of... aspire to... and wake up everyday trying to reach...
It is so very hard to shed your legacy as an individual, and equally hard as a company...
And, yet...
EACH ONE OF US...
EVERY COMPANY...
HAS THE SEED, THE ESSENCE to change the world...
It's only those who forgive themselves, excuse themselves, relieve themselves of who they have been...
that have the liberty, the potential, the responsibility
to make the world better...
in a material way...
Those are the ONES...
Which ONE are you?
Which ONE do you WANT to be?
LET GO...
In harmony,
Nestor
P.S. this is the last paragraph from an old poem that I wrote... It came to mind... The poem was called CONSEQUENCE...
"As I leapt off the cliff,
leaving all of the gold,
I opened my eyes,
to look
to be bold...
All based on this dream,
that I had long ago.
I believed I could fly...
And to fly,
I let go."