efficient or effective?

The SAT continues to be the major measuring stick in our education system.

Why?

“The reason is simple. Not because it works. No, we do it because it’s the easy and efficient way to keep the mass production of students moving forward.” - Seth Godin, Stop Stealing Dreams [Section 10]

Our organizations continue to hold worn-out meetings.

We settle for mediocre work products instead of creating something of true value.

We ignore the voices in our head that tell us to strive for something greater.

Why?

The reason is simple. These responses too fall along that easy and efficient path. We’ve decided it’s better to check items off the list and keep things moving forward, albeit superficially, than to risk investing emotional energy to ensure real effectiveness.

But, imagine what might happen if we instead have the boldness to leap, embrace vulnerability and create what truly matters. It’s safe to assume - our world will be a bit of a different place.

work

Your work should fill you with energy, leverage your strengths and allow you to operate within your sweet spot.

This is necessity, not luxury.

If it all sounds foreign, perhaps you aren’t doing what you ought to be.

commitment

To reap the benefits, you have to commit.

Commitment to… risk, be vulnerable, start that conversation, let down the walls, declare those dreams, take that action, pursue that mission.

Decide to be all in, and you’ll uncover “all in” results. Park yourself on the fence, however, and expect only incomplete, fence-dwelling outcomes.

Do you ever feel as though you are being forced to conform to the world? Forced to operate on someone else’s schedule. Forced to adopt another’s priorities. Forced to pursue a foreign set of values.

Does it ever dawn on you that perhaps you aren’t being forced at all? Perhaps you can do more than simply surrender to those external forces.

We all have a choice to make. Instead of assuming we must conform, we can start saying no those priorities and beliefs that conflict with our genuine self.

bakeshop

[strawberry + goat cheese scones]

"...have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language..."

- Rainer Maria Rilke

[photo: Griffith Park Old Zoo]

[photos: Rodeo Drive]