Randy Cantrell is the founder of Bula Network, LLC - an executive leadership advisory company helping leaders leverage the power of others through peer advantage, online peer advisory groups. Interested in joining us? Visit ThePeerAdvantage.com
We put it back there on that back burner. That’s where we put things to simmer.
Things can simmer without much attention because simmering takes time.
Once in awhile we peek in. Maybe we give it a gentle stir.
We’ve got other things on the front burner that demand our constant attention. They’re the major projects in our life. They’re burning hotter. Some of them are on a rolling boil.
That front burner item is eventually done. It’s ready to come off the cooktop all together. To make room for that back burner idea.
Ideas and projects have a lifespan. Cooking isn’t always the answer. When something is done, it’s done! Time to remove the heat and get on with the other elements of preparation.
Right now you’ve got something on the back burner that deserves to be moved to the front burner. It’s been back there simmering long enough. Bring the heat. Get it ready for the plate.
It’ll mean you’ve got to remove something, but that’s okay. You’ve got plenty of things that you’ve been thinking of getting off the stove. Get them off today.
It’s a birth and death cycle. Something comes off the front burner to make room for something deserving. Today’s the day to get that back burner idea out front where it can have a chance to fully develop.
Timing may be everything, but there’s no day like today!
People often go to one extreme or the other when considering today’s question. Sometimes I see people write down a full page of various things they’d like to be known for. If they lived to be 1000 years old they still wouldn’t be able to accomplish half the things on their list…and that’s assuming they had the natural aptitude for each thing.
At the other end of the spectrum are those poor people who struggle to write down a single thing. They can’t think of anything they want to known for. When I encounter these people I drive them immediately to a crisis center for counseling. I fear for their safety.
We likely fall somewhere in the middle. We don’t want to limit ourselves, so our list expands. We don’t want to live unnoticed, so we write down something.
Narrow your focus to business related pursuits and it doesn’t simplify things for most of us. Today’s question is why so many companies fail to properly identify their target market. Everybody can’t be your target, but neither can nobody. You need somebody!
As you consider what you’d like to be known for you must also ask yourself, “By whom?”
• An anonymous company that is not so anonymous. I ran across this company in the summer of 2007. Here in Texas it gets really hot and I was investigating ventilation options for a warehouse when a Google search led me to them. I instantly “got it.”
Take some time and give this question the attention it deserves. You’ll be rewarded with the clarity you need to make progress. Like most of these questions, it won’t be easy. Don’t rush it. Just keep on pushing forward sorting through all the noise in your head. When things quieten down you’ll likely be getting close to your answer.
P.S. Congratulations to the New Jersey Devils and their fans for advancing to the Stanley Cup Finals. It should be a great series!
Still we read numerous blogs. We spend hours Googling a variety of interesting articles. Stroll over to YouTube and Vimeo and we watch a dozen videos. Cruise on over to iTunes where we download some podcasts for our daily workout.
Still nothing profound. No AHA! moment.
Until it all changes…and we experience what we were looking for all along. Well, we weren’t looking for that exact one, but still we found it. The needle in the haystack!
The AHA! Moment
If I could predict or create the AHA! moment…I’d be the wealthiest man on the planet. I’d surely be the world’s most interesting man.
Sadly, I’m neither. But I am a man in search of an epiphany. I think you are, too. We’re all searching for more AHA! moments. More epiphanies. Those moments feel so terrific when we experience them.
I’m going to tell you why all this “content creation” and “content consumption” is worthwhile, even if it’s not all greatness. Much of what we consume – maybe MOST of what we consume – is not life changing. Still we consume it.
We should. Click play and I’ll tell you why!
Mentioned in today’s show:
• The Radical Leap Re-Energized by Steve Farber (I read the 1st one, but I’ve not yet read this one)
• Daniel Clark of QAQN.com posted a funny message on Facebook that helps prove my point about content.
You guys are all opening my eyes about this episode… I don’t know if there was something in my water yesterday or what, but I think we need a do-over. Think Tank was not without a few flaws – many my own hangups (the ‘bikini’ discussion) – but if the overall impression you’re all getting is that we had a lousy time and Think Tank sucked… that’s not at all how I feel about it. If podcasters are allowed one train wreck of a show, this might be mine.
Nothing I’ve ever done has consumed me like coaching hockey. Nothing even comes close.
When I began I read everything I could get my hands on. I connected with people from any English speaking country who could teach me anything. I was a sponge…driven to learn more so I could help my teams.
I’d long been a student and fan of the game, but I never played. Regularly I’d joke with players that I simply had a hockey Rolodex that would trump anybody they knew. Bulletin boards, forums and every obscure hockey website were regularly visited by me as I made notes and obsessed with things I could pass on to my players.
The roller hockey scene of 20 years ago hit. Warm weather locations like Texas, California and Florida were embracing the sport with grand enthusiasm. I dove headlong into that area of hockey at the time because it was virgin territory and the old head ice hockey guys had a strong prejudice against it. I didn’t.
When USA Hockey in Colorado Springs realized the inline version of the game was an opportunity to expose more young players to a great game – they began to bring order and organization to the sport. The Executive Director at the time recruited me to become a Regional Director, a completely volunteer position that I happily accepted because coaching was that important to me.
Over time I coached countless kids, from 6 year olds to college guys.* And I loved every minute of it, even dealing with obnoxious, idiotic parents. Because I had a bigger purpose. A more important compelling reason. I wanted to impart a little bit of knowledge, a little bit of wisdom and a whole lot of life lessons to the players.
My aim was high. To be memorable by helping them achieve more than they might be able to without my help.
I was fully devoted to them, and to the sport.
Coaching hockey has, for years, been the barometer for me whenever I’m looking at my own passions and trying to answer today’s question. Maybe there’s something in your life that serves you like that. I’d love to report that it has helped me clarify things, but it hasn’t. Some days it only serves to confuse me further. And for a guy like me, confusion comes easily so I don’t need any more help in that department.
Look deeply into your life. Look into your past. Carefully consider today’s question. There are three more coming behind it. My hope is that we can work through these questions and learn more about ourselves. Along the way perhaps we can figure out some ways to earn more money because money is the fuel that helps us maintain our passions, and our causes. We need money to support the causes we care most about.
Question 1: What Do You Care Most About?
* Note: The photo was taken of me coaching the roller team of the University of Texas at Arlington during a college national championship tournament. I coached this UTA team for four years. They were, deservedly, the last team I ever coached.
People need leadership. That doesn’t mean leaders are without their own needs.
Leaders need feedback, information, dialog and instruction. Nobody knows everything. Not even the most accomplished or capable leader.
Fathers have a great deal to learn. Sometimes from their own children.
CEO’s have a great deal to learn. Sometimes from low level, frontline employees (see Undercover Boss).
The compelling reason why I do what I do with these podcasts, videos and blog posts is summed up in a single phrase, “Passing it on.”
It doesn’t mean I’m an expert with nothing left to learn. My ability to teach, to instruct or pass it on is greatly enhanced by my ability to listen and learn. Lifelong learning improves lifelong teaching, and mentoring.
