Surrender in Business

In this video today,

I'm gonna share a short reflection on the challenge of surrendering in business.

And I'm going to share a metaphor that might help you feel seen and understand some things that you're experiencing.

Because what I've found is that there aren't a lot of people talking about this out there and not a lot of people living this way in business.

And.

I've been doing this for a while and experiencing some of the challenges and want to share that in case some of you are wanting to live this way and do business in this manner.

Because it's very different.

And so the metaphor is that.

.

.

Leif.

Business is a journey like a river.

And we're floating down it.

And you can either be paddling against the current Or you can be in a tube.

Floating down,

Surrendering.

And the key thing here that I want to bring to you is because I heard this metaphor early on and I was like,

Oh,

It sounds so relaxing.

It's not.

No,

Not relaxing.

At times it is,

Of course,

But.

.

.

It's not passive Surrender is the most.

.

.

Alive way to operate a business and live.

It's the way that is most invigorating and brings the most to you in a rapid way sometimes.

And.

.

.

So when you're floating down this river in the tube,

Know that you're going to encounter things like rapids and rocks and bears and other people and all kinds of issues with your tube.

So let me just share a bit about this for you,

Like piece by piece.

And I want to start with the rapids.

Rapids are your emotions.

And.

.

.

They're going to be with you for your whole human life,

Like it or not.

And some of us have much bigger emotions than other people.

Or there's just more happening.

There's more waves all the time.

But everyone has waves.

Everyone has these emotions.

Mr.

Rogers is somebody that I love listening to with my daughter.

You know,

He brings that to what he's saying all the time.

Like everybody has emotions and that's okay.

And it's not about not having them.

That's not enlightenment,

Is getting rid of your emotions.

It's what do you do when they come up?

What do you do with the biggest reactions that are in your body and soul that will ever come to the surface?

Again,

In my experience of living this way.

There is some intensity in these rapids,

Like you might feel like you're drowning sometimes.

And some people can drown.

You can get lost in them for years.

Piece of advice is not to try to get rid of them,

But rather to find ways to navigate them and find ways to befriend them.

And find ways to Watch them.

Lovingly.

Next to rocks.

No,

No,

The rocks.

These are obstacles that come up all of a sudden.

And sorry if that clap was too much.

But they come up all of a sudden.

And.

.

.

You're surprised.

And it seems like it comes out of nowhere.

And this might be.

Clients leaving.

It might be a lawsuit.

It might be.

Issues with people,

It might be something in your personal life that affects your business,

Like a divorce or.

.

.

You know,

Losing a loved one.

Things like this that are really intense.

And again,

It's about the amount of presence that you can have.

When these things are occurring so that you don't crash your tube.

And just get washed up on the shore for an extended period of time.

And I'm not saying don't grieve or don't process what's happening.

Of course,

Do that.

No bypassing.

It's about being aware,

Being aware of these obstacles at all times.

So if you're present on your.

.

.

Tube as you're floating down you're going to see them maybe in advance a little bit and maybe you're going to be able to save yourself some pain or some time lost.

Next thing we've got.

People because that's inherent to us as human,

Interconnected.

There will be people along the whole river It is about fine tuning who you spend your time with,

Who you give your energy to.

Because inevitably there will be more people than you can ever handle.

And it is about filtering.

Who am I going to spend my time with?

If someone's like,

Hey,

Come over to the sandbar over here and drink some beers with us.

Sounds fun,

But is that actually the best use of your time on this river?

It is short and there is an end to it.

So you have to decide these things as you're going.

Some people will be bad influences.

Some people will be wisdom keepers that help you along the journey.

Maybe you've got a hole in your tube and they help you patch it.

Maybe there are friends and you decide to hook up your tubes for a while.

Coast down the river together because it's more fun that way.

In business,

Of course,

Is your team.

These are the people that you work with and trust and rely on.

There's a quote,

Hire fast,

Fire fast.

And.

I think that's right.

I think that's true.

If you're attuned to what's going on inside.

And what your heart's telling you,

You make these decisions very quickly.

Next,

Nothingness.

So again,

One thing you're not told a lot in surrender.

It is intense.

It is alive.

But one of those alive things is nothingness.

Like you're just floating down a river.

It's straight and calm and there's no people and there's nothing but trees,

The same scenery over and over for miles and miles,

Days and days,

Weeks and weeks.

Your mind is going to go nuts.

The mind is just constantly talking and constantly causing mischief in different ways.

And what do you do in those moments,

In those stretches of life?

When there isn't anything.

.

.

On fire when there isn't anything to solve particularly.

When it's not a time of growth,

Like another video and another time will be the seasons.

Spring,

Summer,

Fall,

Winter.

It's not always summer.

Things aren't supposed to grow constantly.

That's one of the funny things about business and the mentality here.

Nothing grows forever.

There are seasons.

And if you're not attuned to those seasons,

Which includes just resting.

Then you will be burnt out.

You will get burnt out.

Finally,

The two,

This is your systems and practices.

This is the foundation of your business,

Of yourself,

Your leadership.

Again,

If those are out of whack,

You're not going to float.

You're going to sink.

And the other thing that I like about this is like,

You can always fine tune this.

So like maybe your tube is,

You know,

You've built it to a certain point and then somebody strolls past and they've got like an entertainment center.

And a bike that they've built onto it and a little deck that they can relax on.

You know,

Whatever they've built into their tube.

I like that in the sense that you can constantly be evolving the systems and practices within yourself and your business.

And they do need constant tending and care in order to operate at the highest level.

So these are just some things to think about as you're doing this surrender journey.

It's like it's not meant to be passive.

And it is challenging and it requires a great deal of intuitive insight and honing of this compass inside of us.

And that compass points us north.

It points us towards what we most want and who we most want to be.

And all of these things,

They're not obstacles.

In a sense,

Or they are,

But the obstacle is the way.

It is part of the process that is making you from a rock into a diamond.

Just want to say thank you for listening.

10-minute video.

I know it's so long these days.

But thank you.

I believe in you.

I believe in the work you're doing.

We need you in the world to do it and to make this a better place.

So thank you.