Mountains of Arizona
Cloudy 16 Degrees
6:58 a.m.
So yesterday I kicked-off a new project, SovereignDad.org.
The idea came, as most of my ideas do, when I wasn’t thinking about it. In fact, I was walking in the dark, probably around 5 AM, listening to a podcast.
It was an instant hit of “inspiration,” completely unrelated to what I was listening to. Instant inspiration that was actually about 41 years in the making. (I’m a little slow!)
I could feel there was something coming months ago, but I had no idea what.
In the past, this “wanting to do something new” feeling was met with impatience and immaturity. I wanted the answer NOW. I wanted to start it NOW. Doesn’t everyone say Action, Action, Action!!!??
Yes, and that’s the truth. But there’s action you can see and there’s action you can only FEEL.
Back then, my immaturity would lead me to doing some crazy things when I had this “do something new” feeling. Like deciding, back in 2009, that I really wanted to just do affiliate marketing where I could hide from the world and just make money.
I got excited about LITERALLY making my only true asset (myself) disappear into the ether to collect some make believe electrons in my make believe bank account, the contents of which are actually PROPERTY OF THE BANK, as they are the holder in due course of everything you’ve willingly given to them.
These days, when that feeling hits, I just wait and watch. Because I know it’s just a matter of time until the thing shows up. I actually understand that the feeling is what draws the thing to my awareness.
I’ve had several inflection points like this through my life where, in an “instant,” I realize that decades of living have uniquely prepared me for doing something.
And so it is with this project.
I got the idea. I came home. Four hours later it was alive.
So what’s the business plan for this new project?
That’s funny. My head certainly wants to ask questions like that. But looking back on my life, my head doesn’t have such a great track record of delivering happiness, satisfaction, or results. It’s not such a powerful tool for setting the course.
Keeping me ON the course? Yes, it can be helpful. But setting the course? It’s a disaster.
The direction comes from a much deeper place. A place we can ALL access if we learn how to calm the noise around us.
So here’s the course I’ve set.
STEP 1: Serve the people.
So I started writing to them daily. This should come as no surprise. I’m literally starting a new media platform from zero, much like I did with this very letter’s first issue to 62 people (none of whom asked for it!) back in 2011.
STEP 2: Sync my understanding of “the problems” to be solved with their view of “the problems” to be solved.
This step is about empathy. I know what I know. And I’m interested in helping people. But help has to come in a package people can understand and get value from. So that takes time to sync up.
STEP 3: Begin to look for opportunities to serve at deeper levels.
This is where we start to turn the corner and develop tools and resources for a subset of the larger group who want to actively APPLY the concepts, strategies and ideas I’ve learned to their own life and work.
As you can see, not much of a “business” plan.
What’s the exit strategy?
Another question that didn’t make the cut. I don’t do exit strategies because I have no interest in starting something I’d want to stop.
So there is no exit strategy, there isn’t a customer acquisition strategy. Heck, there aren’t any customers!
What exists is a signal. A very clear signal that I am here to do this work.
The rest of it gets figured out as I discover, for THESE people, how best to serve them.
I don’t know if there’s a business book that lays out a process like this, but I doubt it. It wouldn’t sell well because, generally, hearts don’t buy business books. MINDS buy them.
As the New Year is upon us, it won’t be long ’til we realize it’s much like the old year.
The mind will try to convince us otherwise. The mind wants to control. It wants to control habits, thoughts, deeds, aspirations, goals. It uses “resolutions” this time of year to play its games and make itself feel valuable.
But the heart has no need for this. It transcends control. It is tuned for much deeper things.
Who will you serve and how well can you do it?
That’s a question that’s always led me to the real success.