A Worthy Plane Ride

I was in a plane flying home from another great event with Todd Duncan. The week I had just spent had proven to be one of the more impactful weeks of learning, challenging myself, and building relationships in some time. It was a long flight, and I had trouble sleeping, so I decided to read. One of my favorite things about flying is that my phone doesn’t ring, my door can not open, and it offers uninterrupted time to read. I’m slightly addicted to what I call man trash; spy novels and legal thrillers, you know, the ones that engage my inner secret agent. Throw in some history books every now and then, and I’m a happy traveler. 

Well, on this flight, I had just had such a great week; I wanted to go back through my notes and summarize some things before I lost the inspiration to adopt a few teachings and allowed myself to fall back into my day to day routine without taking action. As I read through my notebook, I came across a few pages where I had started writing out some belief statements. Things I really wanted to become or be more consistently as a person, a leader and a father. I took some time re-writing these thoughts in a more succinct, memorizable fashion, so I didn’t forget them once I closed my notebook. I was hungry to grow, and growth I had learned comes from being intentional and committed. That plane ride created the platform of writing out the core convictions, which ever since, has created a set of stated beliefs that have become the filter for holding myself accountable to certain behaviors, making decisions, leading, and treating others. Admittedly, it took time and several iterations to simplify, but it was well worth the effort. 

This morning I picked up one of the favorite books I’ve read in a while, “Up from Slavery” by Booker T Washington, and went back through my notes. Side note, I recommend reading great books (not man trash) with a pen and underline and take notes in the margins. Certain books are meant to be consumed, not simply read. 

The below section reminded me of the first Core Conviction: I believe I was created to serve others, without exception.

A life of surprises, encouragements, doing your best every day, and helping others. What a formula!!

What is your focus on today? Serving you or serving others? It’s an important distinction and quite honestly a daily challenge. I was meeting a prospective new teammate last night, and I love the way he summarized his personal order of operations:

Mission first, then message, support that with great methods, and the money will be sufficient. 

Mission-message-method-money: in that order. 

In other words, when others come first, the money will be enough, whatever the amount. 

Happy Tuesday!