Are You Activated?

It's about who, not what.

It’s easy to get overwhelmed by WHAT is happening and forget that the most important question is WHO is experiencing it all. Someone who identifies as a victim is going to feel attacked by the tides of life; someone who sees themselves as a contributor is going to take the same assault in stride and figure out how to use what’s happening to give their gifts.

This nails the single greatest flaw in our educational system: we don’t inspire and train our young people to discover who they are and learn how to express their uniqueness through whatever skills they develop… and make a living doing that.

Making a living comes first. And central to that is the concept of money.

What is money? Amongst other things, it’s a device we invented to distance ourselves from pleasure. What is a kiss worth? It’s priceless. What is a hundred dollar bill worth? Nothing. Until you spend it. You don’t wait for the kiss, the pleasure is now. The $100? It’s a promise of pleasure… later.

Money seduces us into time.

Time. Later. Hoping for something better.

Right now is the only moment we are alive and our only opportunity to enjoy our lives, except in imagination - when I sell my script, getting a raise, my team winning, stocks going way up, after I retire, being reincarnated as a fabulously rich and irresistibly attractive celebrity with millions of adoring fans, etc.

I’ve used the term “activation” for years to describe what happens when any of us get this central realization and choose to prioritize what’s coming out of us over what’s coming at us. Who I believe myself to be - victim or activated contributor - determines what I am broadcasting into the world (you know, that world I’d like to save).

But saving how, exactly? Some day in the future, by banning fossil fuels or electing a better leader? Or, could I make a positive impact right now in this moment?

What am I, what are you, broadcasting? Anxiety? Fear? Hope? Gratitude? Love?

How would you rate yourself on the Activation Scale, 1 being mostly passive to 10 being someone who is consistently expressing your best, no matter what your circumstances might be?

Anything less than 10 invites a commitment to improvement. And 10 could be 11 (reference Spinal Tap, see here, it’s hilarious).

Can’t Buy Me Love (click here) … that’s what the Beatles told us and they were right.