| The Model Must Serve the Mission I didn’t want to be a speaker. I wanted to be a writer. But when I submitted my book ideas to publishers, a prominent publisher said if I wanted to write business/personal growth books, I had to get out there and speak or else no one would know about my books. I was forced to move past my fear of public speaking and get out there and start doing it because my mission was to inspire and encourage as many people as possible, one person at a time. My model was to write and speak. My mission was to inspire and encourage. Over time, people like Julie Nee came to me and asked if they could work with me. I told Julie to go do several talks on The Energy Bus for free and see if she liked it and let’s gauge the response. She took action, loved it, and so did her audiences. Then people started asking for workshops, and Julie asked me if she could work with me to create the programs for The Energy Bus and The Power of Positive Leadership. I said sure. I wasn’t looking to build anything - just to serve the mission. Then Amy P. Kelly reached out, and that led to her, Julie, and me creating Positive Team workshops, our Day of Development, and Certification programs. I now had a new model, but the mission was the same… and we even added to it, focusing on developing positive leaders and positive teams who make a positive impact. But then something happened. As we grew, I had to hire people to support the mission, and that meant a lot more costs, which meant there was more pressure to make the model work. As we sought to expand, we brought in a marketing group to help us grow. But in the process, I realized we had started focusing more on scaling the model than staying true to the mission. Without intending to, we were prioritizing growth over purpose, and something felt off. This happens for many businesses and organizations. We start out with a mission and create a model, and unfortunately, instead of the model serving the mission, the mission becomes serving the model—and it leads to an eventual demise. If you ever feel like your mission is now serving the model, rather than the other way around, here’s what I learned: Do a Gut Check – Does your current direction still align with your original mission? If not, pause. Reflect. Reset. If something doesn’t feel right, trust your instincts. Clarity comes when you realign with your mission. Reverse the Flow – Your model should exist to serve the mission, not the other way around. Keep it lean and aligned. Don’t build something so big that it demands all your energy just to sustain it. Build only what fuels your impact. Recommit to Your Purpose – For us, if we focus on growing leaders, everything else (success and impact) will follow. Thankfully, after a few months of “something doesn’t feel right” in my gut, I realized what was happening. I told my wife I would shut everything down before putting the model before the mission. I told her I don’t want to create a beast (large team and infrastructure) you have to feed. I want a lean team who is on a mission to feed others. I asked myself why I am doing this, and the mission became so clear. It’s to develop positive leaders who make a positive impact in every business, school, team, organization, and community around the world. I know that if we focus on the mission to develop positive leaders, leaders will grow, teams will improve, businesses, schools, and organizations will thrive, lives will change, communities will be elevated, and everything will flourish. Since then, I’ve been more energized than ever. Each week, I now ask: "How can the model better serve the mission?" And I want to encourage you to do the same. If you feel exhausted… If you feel like you’re chasing growth instead of impact… If you feel like your mission has taken a backseat… It’s okay to stop, turn around, and rebuild it differently. It may take longer. It might be harder. But it will lead to greater success and impact in the long run and you’ll enjoy the journey a whole lot more. Enjoy the ride! Jon P.S. As a result of this awakening that literally woke me up at 5am, I have some new and exciting things coming and can’t wait to share them with you! | 