MAWMonday Motivators 06/18/2017

by: Dr. Michael A. Wright In Blog, Coaching DiaryTagged , , , , , , , , ,

Beware the Trap: Seeking a Fair Trade

#Juneteenth is tomorrow, and the anniversary has me thinking. I’m thinking also because I am launching a venture 18 years in the making. But, I am wondering how many assumptions we make about life that are simply not true. How many truisms do we accepts because they are fed to us from birth? How mis-educated is our perception of the process? Even if we sought to move out of conformity and into an individualized existence, how would we know that our choices are from a complete and not a controlled set of options?

The challenge this week is to realize that it is possible to construct a world with rules and processes that maintains you in chains. Look it up. Social control theory is a good starting point. Carter Woodson is another good source. Add the Matrix movie to your list and understand how a collective delusion can be made manifest. My encouragement this week is that you don’t have to accept the delusion. It will be difficult, but you can get free. It will be frightening at times, but the experience on the other side of the struggle is worth the journey.

1. You Don’t Have to Accept It

It’s the way it has always been done. It is the way that everyone understands it. It is politically correct, supported through policy, and socially rewarded. But, it’s wrong. I know because it separates us. It places us at odds. It creates us versus them and demonizes them while painting us a cherubic. You don’t have to accept it.

The greatest challenge is when it benefits us. When we are advancing within that structure of dim light, it is the most difficult to walk in brilliance. I now understand the circumstances that led to Oprah–fired from a position. I now revere the actions of Wayne Dyer and Kerry Ann Rockquemore–to leave tenured positions and spread their message to the world.

2. Forget the Process

My wish today is that you begin to build toward the freedom beyond that in which you have been trained to find comfort. It starts with authenticity. The rest works itself out.

Don’t be discouraged by the process. Trust it. Learn from it. Feel the pain of rejection, the loss of opportunity, and even the embarrassment of disapproving looks and hushed whispers. Mourn seven days learning the lessons through the pain, but rise and walk afterward. Engage with the new vigor of having risked, practiced, and learned. Find your authentic center. Expand your context and options beyond what has been presented to you, beyond the comfortable. Find the courage to launch.

3. You Need a Strategy

You have to apply and organize infrastructure, governance, and education. This means having a business or revenue model, registering the business or applying to an opportunity, and committing to your continued competence building. But, the truth is that you can build it out and revise as you go along. The world of business, relationships, and athletics–truly life as a whole–does not run as a simple equation of consistency. Multiple changes, many variables, new fads and trends will occur along your journey. You have to clear on your business model as you begin, clear on your resources and revenue projections. Yet, you must be flexible to respond to the requests of the market within the context of the value you provide and the principles you founded your venture upon. This is strategy: both to march intentionally and systematically and to respond swiftly to new environmental shifts.

4. Limit the Impact

Never too high that your landing is in question. Never too low that you suffocate beneath the weight. Surround yourself with people that build you, encourage you, and connect you to opportunities. Share your agenda and your visions with these supports. Limit time with others. Create your brand, activate your engagement process, and market your innovation. Systematic, consistent, solid, and responsive. Your actions are tangible and calculated in that you follow an informed process. Your actions are faith and courage because they will often be new to you and contrary to the easy option.

5. Go to Bed Grateful

Wake up refreshed! I follow a few people on social media, famous and famous-in-smaller-circles. One thing I notice is their genuine gratitude for the positions they are in. Not thankfulness for achievement and hiding of challenges, but gratitude for the experience of life and entrepreneurship, family and freedom, each new day and each setting sun. It’s a daily engagement and appreciation for what really matters. In all the perceptions of getting, achieving, and winning, they come back to a common reality of time with loved ones, conversations with friends, and quiet meditations. #Gratitude

Dr. Michael A. Wright received his Doctor of Philosophy in Social Work degree from the University of South Carolina - Columbia. Since 1997, Wright has led MAWMedia Group, LLC, a firm helping individuals and organizations tell stories and translate ideas into capital.