Water
“…but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”
- Jesus of Nazareth
I live in deep south Texas. It’s pretty dry here. When we talk about water, it is typically about scarcity, restrictions, and about how that finite and essential asset will one day disappear.
Whenever Jesus talks about water, he seems to talk about it completely differently. He uses words like…
Everlasting
Deep
Living
Eternal
Abundant
Satisfying
He is, or course, comparing and differentiating all at the same time. He is often comparing a vast and seemingly endless supply of water that a deep well seems to supply, but he is also saying that there is a sustenance from the kind he offers that will quench in a far deeper way. It will sustain you in every way and fill you clear into eternity. He is saying that this source of water is enough and you don’t need any others.
The folks at EOS define the visionary (entrepreneur) archetype. They say they are strategic, big thinkers, operate more on emotion, have lots of ideas and even have a sort of corporate ADD.
They also talk about “integrators." These are the people who execute on those strategic plans created by visionaries. They implement the necessary things, and also serve as the throttle for all those ideas and often the medicine required to moderate all that ADD.
Most entrepreneurs (visionaries) that I know have an endless supply of projects, new ventures, strategies, and creative ideas they are chasing in their minds. It is as if they are constantly dropping new wells, hoping to find new sources of water.
The problem is that they often lose focus on the one primary well. They can get so distracted by all the other ideas and possibilities that they cease to pay attention to the true source of their success. We often play the role of an outsourced integrator.
We provide them focus.
We remind them of the things that they have to provide attention to.
We tell them “no” when typically no one else in their organization has been permission’d to do so.
We help them optimize and find the success in their core business that allows them the room to venture into new things.
We remind them, like Jesus, that there is often one primary source for water that they need to be drawing from. There is a core business, a core revenue stream, and a core team that need to be invested in and plumbed deeper. Success is likely not going to be found in the next business, next idea, or next hire.
They will likely find everything they are looking for by just digging a little deeper where they already are.
Interestingly enough, for most of the leaders we worked with that identify with Christian ideology, there is a deeper reservoir that Jesus is referencing. There is truth, knowledge, and direction available that also trumps everything they are hoping to find in the next business book, seminar, and TED talk.
That is a sort of source we need to dip deeper into as well....before we reach for any others.
- How deep and abundant is the well you are drawing from?
- How distracted are you by new ideas, ventures, or other wells?
- Who is drawing your attention back to the primary source of your vocational and spiritual success?
- Who can tell you “no”?