Hi Friend,
It’s been a week of navigating new and old. This was my first week to take on responsibilities for my business that I haven’t played a direct role in for almost a decade. The details and administrative elements are not my greatest area of strength, but I am mostly capable and appreciate the challenge. If I were to grade myself, I think I did a solid B-.
I’ve also reengaged with my old friend Brady who does all of my video editing. We’re putting together a new speaker reel which is forcing me to continue to find better language to articulate my offer for serving humanity. I look at other speaker’s demo videos and think “man I wanna be on a cool stage like that!” I suspect I will. For now, I’m entirely grateful for getting to do this kind of work for so long.
Last night, my wife and I binge-watched an 8 episode show on Prime, called Alex Cross. It’s adapted from a James Patterson novel series. We started around 7pm and went till waaaaaaaay too late. Neither of us had done that before. I know bingeing a whole series in one sitting, is a common experience, but it hasn’t been for us. Probably the demands of life or preference for sleep were prohibiting.
It was incredibly enjoyable and completely satisfying… And I’m exhausted writing you now. 🙂 What makes that endurance run so gratifying? For me, the company. Though I know there are plenty of solo-bingers. Another, the sense of completion. How many of us start a big project and finish it in the same day? Thirdly, the collaboration. We became a part of the story working with Alex to bring all the pieces together.
BINGE LIFE
I think that’s the secret to life: Binging. Though that word prior to streaming was mostly associated with food and drink, neither of which were positive. Granted even now, connected to TV, it’s not something you put on a resume. It’s an extreme word, inferring we ignore everything else and give ourselves completely to this one activity. What if that activity was our purpose?
The streaming binge is effective because the hook at the end of each episode. The better the cliffhanger or surprise, the more likely we are to say “OH SNAP. We gotta see what happens next!” We have characters all around us in real life who are living with tension and uncertainty. Maybe even you. What if we engaged in helping them solve their real-life drama? What if we ended each day with great anticipation for how the next day will reveal more of our story? #BingeLife
SUSPENSE
My wife and I love a good thriller/suspense/action movie. It generates a lot of brain juju that stimulates us. Did you know there is another word for suspense … Anxiety. Yet the millions of folks walking around with it, aren’t jazzed about their opportunity to be in a life that has all the makings of a blockbuster movie. Why is that? I’m guessing, the conclusion is elusive.
The beauty of the binge is there is an end in sight. Even if it’s “three more episodes” we know it’s going to be over. What if we were able to produce that kind of certainty around our own anxiety? What if we determined to be the writer/director/producer and actor of our own story? I know it’s all the external circumstances, situations and scenarios that we can’t alter, which is at the root of most anxiety. We can control our internal narrative, however.
Instigating Ideas…
1. Write down one area of your life you’re going to give extreme focus to this week.
2. What would be the name of this season of your life if it were a movie?
3. Who could you partner with to help them move their story along?
The thing we hate in real life is what we love in a show: the unexpected twist and turns, and people not being who we thought they were. The shocks and surprises get our juices flowing with disbelief, righteous anger and a passion for justice to be served. That’s what makes the Binge so satisfying isn’t it? A sense of appropriate closure when things are made right. We don’t always get true justice in real life.
TODAY
We only get today to live out this episode of our life. Being intentional about our company, collaborations and completions will determine how our story is described. Use the cliffhangers and unresolved challenges to fuel your faith and anticipation about tomorrow’s episode.
I hope this week you binge life well, giving extreme focus to the truly important and using the unexpected to amp up your passion for justice’s sake. Be mindful that your character is needed in the stories of others’ lives, too.