Waking up is…

“Today’s meeting really opened up my eyes to the whole process of what you are trying to teach us. I myself have been reluctant to accept some of the BTL sessions  and absorb each meeting’s lesson. Today it clicked why the OPUS is so important. I finally get how focusing on a work OPUS can lead to the revelation of a Magnum OPUS for my life. I see the connection now. I have discovered that the biggest bull shitter of them all is me and I am basically the main person standing in my way to becoming the CEO of me. I have been struggling for months now to figure out who I am what I want mostly because I was scared. I have been and still am letting the fear of finding out who I really am and what I want out of life keep me from taking productive actions. I have been basically the deer in the headlight frozen not moving forward and letting the truck of life just fly full speed towards me. I have felt like the lives of everyone around me are moving forward and I am being left in the dust. I need to be able to find that energy, that love in the job I have so I can find out what my vision for the future will be. I am quickly realizing that it is much easier to realize what I don’t want than pin down what it is exactly I do want. I can’t live my life for other’s approval I need to be able to be selfish and fight for clarity as to where I want to be in my life and what type of person I want to be remembered as. I might have rambled on here a bit and I know there are probably a lot of run on sentences and incomplete thoughts here, but you’re right man, writing it out is extremely helpful.”

The young man who wrote me this is one of many participants in BTL team practice. He’s been in the practices for months, but hasn’t been into them. He, like most humans, has simply been going through the motions. And, he’s waking up. He’s beginning to get why his leader wants him practicing. He is starting to face his deepest fears and get on the path to becoming the original he’s always been – just too afraid to become. It’s not selfish, remember, to put your oxygen mask on first. Wake up, friend. You are meant for so much more than you can imagine. You can’t figure it out while you sleepwalk, however. So, wake up. Discover your figurative CORE. Author your deepest held beliefs, your worldview. Authentically proclaim your true identities and declare your principles. Re-kindle your passions, cultivate your purposes, and commit to the disciplined process of productively acting it all out.

The purpose of BTL is simple and hard. “We Awaken, Challenge, and together Transform, a few individuals, teams, and leaders into ONE, distinct, deeply connected, and BTL.” This is why we’re here. This is why we practice. Letters, like the one you read in this rant are reminders of the reality we attempt to disrupt. Lead anything and you’re gonna have to find a way to disrupt the status quo if you have any hope of leveling up. Don’t be afraid to try anything to wake up your team. Your hardest job is awakening the talent on your team that is sleepwalking and doesn’t even know it. Oftentimes, the sleepwalkers are performing. Jolt them, anyway.

So, next time you hear me swearing some kinda blue-streak in practice, you know now a bit more about why. Waking up is hard. Wake ’em up, anyway. Good…