Why “The Well” and Why me?

As the go-to guy in start-ups, banking, digital & social media marketing, accounting, sports and in the youth soccer program I founded, I have always done what it takes to get the job done. If I did not know the answer I would say so, and I would not stop until I found it. Often that meant using force of will to get the job done. Eventually I found out the hard way that brute force can result in the loss of happiness, joy, and relationships, burnout, and diminished  curiosity, creativity and motivation. By the time I had an AHA moment and worked out that I needed a better and more efficient way, it had cost me dearly. We can save that story for another day!

In my banking days, I would regularly respond to a colleague knocking on my door who would say: “Can you spare 20 minutes? I have something I’d like to run by you.” Looking back,  it seems like it was an everyday occurence. I had no idea that I had become the proverbial “Wishing Well” where people would go for answers. I was happy to help. And I loved the challenge and solving problems.

Recently I bumped into someone who regularly knocked on that door who told me how valuable a resource I was for him and others back then. He laughed when he said, we always wondered when you did your work, because you were always helping us with ours. Hmm.  Another AHA moment!

Thinking back to my leadership roles in startups, I would have loved to have had access to my own Wishing Well for efficient brainstorming and for finding solutions. It would have made life much less stressful, less lonely and more efficient.

As I progressed through my life and my career, I took experiences like these with me and they served me well, as I had a dream, a focus, a destination, and I was on a journey and a mission to get there. Until, without noticing, I got into my head, allowed some negativity to have a presence, and my focus and energy changed from external and objective driven, to avoiding more pain, fear and what became a long self-pity party. My thought patterns did not help, and soon I was facing some serious challenges.

On the outside, I was helping even more people who were struggling at work, home and at play, while I was avoiding my own truth and not helping myself. And that’s when it finally hit me – another AHA moment:

People don’t change until the price of not changing is too great.

I knew that I could serve and help others, however to do it at the level I wanted to, I had to take care of myself first. The habits and patterns that I was repeating that did not serve me – had to change. The price was again getting to be too great. It was clear to me that I had to  get back to basics, to my core values, and to the system and patterns that had served me well in everything I did.

The decision was a clear one: Come back bigger, better, bolder, and faster. Dream big again and to go to The Well, and use the wisdom and knowledge gained to help as many people overcome life’s challenges and their self-inflicted limitations.

Based on my experience in helping others, having a reliable and proven system and framework makes it so much easier to identify, understand, reset, and overcome challenges and continually raise the bar as we move forward towards fulfilling our potential. And to stay aligned and on track.

And here we are: Catalyst4More’s The Well, me, and you. Welcome Aboard! Buckle up – its going to be an eye-opening, fun and rewarding ride.