On Saturday, March 21st, I shall embark on a journey of self-assessment and finding purpose. For starters, I will participate in a day-long workshop engineered by a good friend and business colleague of mine (introduced by JaMaar Everett), Mr. Jullien Gordon: the purpose finder. Jullien has identified his purpose as “helping as many people in the world find their purpose”. (that’s the WHAT) // The HOW? He has developed a new venture and workshop series traveling around the country administering the Driving School for Life: www.drivingschoolforlife.com | Jullien Gordon’s 2009 License To Live Tour

Driving School for Life is a one-day motivational experience designed for anyone who wants to leave their mark on the world, especially career transitioners, students, and entrepreneurs.

The day consists of thought-provoking group activities, discussions, and writing exercises to develop your passions and align them with your life purpose and profession. Participants gain insight about themselves and develop a personal vision and strategy to realize their dreams.

With that said, I’m beyond excited to sit amongst thought-leaders, progressive-thinkers, creatives, and young leaders as we share experiences and help one another in this journey called LIFE. The main thing I am considering is “what do I want to get out of this workshop?”…after drawn out thought, I think the main thing(s) I want to get out of the workshop is identifying the HOW. I’m almost certain about my purpose (connecting the progressive + serving the at-risk community), so I’m more interested/focused on the HOW: how to grow influence in the community? how to encourage potential funders? how to connect all of the dots (leveraging capitals)? etc.

All in all, this shall be an interesting experience and again, I’m anxious to take part in it. Stay tuned…

by Jullien Gordon

Before the business plan, the pitch deck, the company name, the logo, and the business cards, the most powerful thing you have as an entrepreneur is a vision that people can believe in. A powerful vision will attract the right people, opportunities, and ideas.

One of the myths about visionary companies revealed by James Collins and Jerry Porras in “Built To Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies” is that it doesn’t take a great idea to start a great company. The reality is that few of the visionary companies the research began with a great idea. Several began without any idea at all. Most just began with a few people dedicated to realizing a singular vision.

Your product will evolve over time, but your vision should remain constant. Your first product may fail, but if you’re truly committed to the vision, then you will go back to the drawing board to try to find another way to achieve it.

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by Jullien Gordon

Attracting and Retaining Great People

Two dedicated team members is better than five dedicated team members and and one undedicated one. Undedicated people have the ability to kill the productivity of everyone on the team to their level of dead-ication. They may have been committed in the beginning, but over time, things change and people change and their commitment to the vision may not be as strong for whatever reason.

It’s nothing personal to give them the boot, but the CEO must always remember that the vision is more important than any individual while at the same time recognizing that his/her team is the most valuable thing to that vision. People tend to join organizations for one or more of three reasons: the vision, the team, the technology.

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How to differentiate between convenience, coincidence, & true commitment

Spirit is the unifying force of the world. It is the energy that unites hydrogen and oxygen to make water as well as the energy that brings two people together for a purpose. As Spirit brings people, especially potential spirtual partners, into our lives it is important to be conscious of the context in which they come because it lays the foundation for the entire relationship.

We should first be thankful for the human gift Spirit has brought into our lives and secondly, we should lay the proper foundation for the edification of that relationship in the same way you would get a vase with water for a gifted rose. To be honest, if it weren’t for Facebook, many of us wouldn’t talk to half the people we called friends in college because most of those relationships were based on convenience and coincidence instead of commitment. These are the 3 context that I have observed in the beginning stages of relationships of all types: romantic, friendly, and filial.

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