Top o’ the Mornin’ to Ya!
TLDR: A gummy shark knife taught me that sometimes the better way isn’t working harder—it’s working smarter by letting things soak and asking for help.
This morning, my son didn’t get the garbage out last night, so we had him do it this morning. While he was doing that, I had a few extra minutes to tidy up the kitchen. I grabbed this knife that had dried-on gummy shark stuck all over it—my son got this huge eight-inch gummy shark for Christmas or a birthday party, and we were trying to finish it before it got too old.
My tendency is to get stuff done, get stuff done, get stuff done. I went over to the sink thinking, “This is gonna take forever to scrub off.” But instead of attacking it right away, I wrapped it up in a hot wet towel and just laid it in the sink while I wiped off the counters, went through the old mail pile, threw away the junk, and tidied up other areas. Finally put away our fancy silverware that we had out when all the kids were over for Christmas.
When I came back to that knife, it just wiped right off. That hot water I’d soaked it in made it clean in a jiffy. Sure, that’s a silly example, just a basic example, but if there were a better way, wouldn’t you wanna know?
After that, we took out the recycling. It wasn’t recycling week, but we emptied the bin. I put the bin in front of the garage, got Spencer off to the bus, and on my way back in, I missed putting the bin away. I thought, “I could go there later and get it,” but by doing it now, even though it meant an extra trip outside, I knew it would be in the right place, serving us well going forward.
These are mechanical and household things, but the same principle applies to everything we do, particularly when we think about that conscious and unconscious divide.
I just met with my mastermind group a few minutes ago. We’re planning out our new strategies, our new format, trying to enhance each other’s performance. Taking that time to come together as a mastermind group to find the blind spots, to do things a better way, find a better way. Each of us has different areas of experience, different areas of expertise. We’re adding power days, increasing our accountability, customizing it, individualizing it, personalizing it.
It’s an exciting group to be able to come in once every month where they’re focused on just me—my business, my family, my leadership, who I am at the core. Knowing these guys so well means we can reach out to each other at any time and find a better way. I have six people in my pocket right now from my mastermind group where I can get that perspective. It’s like a Bible study on steroids. It goes beyond the scripture—it goes to who are you and who am I?
If you wanna know a better way, connect. Ask. Be vulnerable enough to open up to letting someone speak into you and letting someone observe you. Be open with yourself, your thoughts, your dreams, your hopes, your challenges.
One of the guys in our group says, “I don’t have struggles,” so we couldn’t use that word for our weekly check-in. We changed it to challenges. “What’s your top of mind challenge?” It may not be the subject for the whole meeting, but after the call, I might say, “Hey, Johnny, your top of mind challenge—can I speak into that? Can I help out?”
Everybody needs that, especially men. We like to shut off and be like, “I can do it myself. That’s the American way. I gotta be this tough guy and know everything and be independent.” And we screw everything up completely.
Find a better way. Find the bottleneck and apply the better way there through the insights of others. God put a million doors in this world for His love to walk through. One of those doors is you. And if it’s you, it’s all the people around you. So reach out and ask them. Let them be the door for a moment. Ask them for help, ask them for insight, share with them your top of mind challenge, and find a better way.
You be blessed!
