Blogger’s Note: I have been on a three-post-a-week schedule for quite a while leading up to this week. I enjoyed the experience, and it got me in the mode of being productive as a writer. However, with the upcoming launch of Living for Monday, it is time for my priorities to shift a bit. I’ll be posting once a week for the next few months — on Wednesdays. I hope you’ll continue reading and that you’ll also check out our new career-oriented blog at LivingforMonday.com beginning on February 20th. Thanks for reading!
If you’ve been reading Living Values for any period of time, you know that I’m big on the power of values and purpose in our work and play. You also might know that I’m in the process of launching Living for Monday, a coaching, consulting, and training company that inspires individuals and organizations to find more purpose in their work.
Ok, great, but why does that matter today? I’m hopping back on the values train today to highlight one of the most interesting business conversations I’ve had since starting my company. I believe it goes back to one of our core values at Living for Monday: Innovate Always.
I texted Trey the other night and I said:
Here’s a real question we need to consider: do we want to spread ideas at UGA or do we want to spread ideas to the world.
That’s a big question, and it goes back to that core value of Innovate Always. If we want to be successful we have to live by that value, and I don’t know that we’ll be doing so by concentrating all of our efforts on the University of Georgia, our alma mater.
We both know the right answer to the question: THE WORLD. That’s what we set out to do. It’s what’s reflected in our 25 year vision for Living for Monday. But that’s scary.
We know how we would do it – we know what we want to create. But that’s going to take hard work. It’s going to take venture capital and a much larger team. It’s going to take testing our hypotheses with real data and pushing our leadership and business skills to the limit (potentially beyond the limit). It’s going to take research and long nights; tough questions and tougher answers; ignoring short-term wants in anticipation of long-term meaning and purpose…
We have to. We don’t have a choice. We know we can do do big things and we know what it will take to get there. It will take hard work, living our five core values, and pursuing our mission and vision with absolute discipline. And if we don’t, then we might as well throw the whole mission, vision, and values thing into the trash and start from scratch with a much smaller view of what we’re setting out to do.
What’s the elephant in the room for you right now? Are you settling for less than you set out to do because it’s the path of least resistance (kind of like we are at the moment)? What can I do to help you answer the big questions in your life? Let me know in the comments!
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