My Beef With Benjamin Franklin

Right out of the gates this week - I’m firing shots!

Today’s email is about a personal beef I got to address.

Now, I know what you’re thinking, “I’ve never known Trevor to be a fighter, he seems like a chill dude”

99% of the time you’d be right.

But every once and a while, I gotta respect that 1%, and turn up!

So where should we begin?

To start, let’s go back to the year 1798! (Not what you were expecting I know!)

200+ years ago, long before we existed, words were said, a truth proclaimed, that society has held on to for over 2 centuries!

Well, I’m here to say that “truth” was wrong.

That “truth” misses the mark completely and leaves out a detail that’s been screwing us over ever since!

Now let me not get ahead of myself.

You should know who this beef is with.

The Culprit

Today’s beef is with no other than the true American OG, the colonial legend, Benjamin Franklin. (Ai generated mug shot above)

Now you might be saying, “Trevor, come on, it’s Ol’Ben!”

“What could you possible have against the guy?”

I'll tell you.

Back in 1798, Ol’ Ben sat hunched over his desk, penning a letter to his good friend Jean.

This letter would say many things.

But there was one line in particular that I have a BIG problem with.

In this letter Franklin wrote out his reflections on the recently established American Constitution, and while he shared his belief of it’s permanence, he caveated his statement by saying…

I’ve got good news, and I’ve got bad news.

The good news, the rest of this email will have nothing to do with death or taxes. (that’ll be next week)

The bad news, this was Franklin’s fatal mistake!

Sure, death, taxes both those suckers are pretty hard to avoid.

But I'm here to say there's one other player that ought to be included in that lineup.

This one missing piece, consistently creates massive disruption in our lives.

It shifts things instantly AND it never goes away!

The Missing Piece

In our last email we talked about “planning for the punch”, or in other words, making plans for potential roadblocks in life and creating pivots for them, so you can stay resilient, focused, and overcome the known challenges.

But I left a disclaimer in there.

It said this…

I want to focus on 2 key parts of that disclaimer.

First - “You can’t plan for EVERY obstacle”

Second - “Anything else, you’ll have to trust your skills and navigate in the moment”

This is the key.

This is what Ol Ben Frank left out!

Death, Taxes, and CHANGE.

Change is inevitable.

In high performance, it is certain.

On Monday things are looking good, on Tuesday it’s a disaster, Wednesday looks good again, Thursday the world is going to end.

High performance is a roller coaster, it’s littered with change! (and that won’t change!)

Ol’ Ben set us up for failure by not including this in his cute little saying.

So therefore, today, we’re changing that. (get it)

Here are 3 ways to build a mindset that embraces change, even when it’s totally unexpected! (because honestly, you should expect it.)

Three Steps For Embracing Unexpected Change

1 - Pause, Notice, Breathe

⏸️ 🤔😮‍💨

When change strikes, it’s startling. It creates friction, it goes against the grain of the “norm.”

Your body will register this, and due to its built in defense system, will try to immediately regain control of the situation.

This is infrequently a good thing.

What’s much wiser - before trying to regain control, notice how the change registers in your body.

Where do you feel the change?

What sensations do you notice taking place in your body?

For example, you’re sitting in a highly anticipated meeting. Out of no where, your boss drops a bomb that will impact EVERYTHING you’ve been working on. The Initial reaction would be to interject, to push back, but what I’m suggesting is before we do that, let’s let it sink in, and let it register - where do I “feel” that news at in my body?

Does my stomach turn to knots, do my palms gets sweaty?

Step 1 - Check in with your body, notice what you feel, and allow yourself to breath into this feeling, holding it with compassion, and non-judgement. (I won't get any more “woo” than that, promise!)

2 - Zoom Out

🔎✈️🌲

When change strikes, it often feels like our entire world will be impacted. This is hardly ever the reality.

See the forest for the trees.

Zoom out.

To continue our example, after your boss drops this bomb, the natural response is to think about how this screws up ALL your previous work. But zoom out. How might this change actually be getting you closer to the high level goal?

Step 2 - After honoring the embodied response to the “change”, shift to a cognitive perspective, and practice “zooming out” to take a look at the full picture.

3 - Respond Rather Than React

🧘☯️🙇🏼‍♂️

There’s a great quote by Viktor Frankl that says, “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”

By following steps 1 & 2, you’ve given yourself this “space” Viktor speaks of.

In this “space” you now have the freedom to respond mindfully.

Act intentionally, and take the most meaningful next step.

Rewriting History

What have we done today in our brief time together?

For one, we’ve revised the words of Benjamin Franklin.

Death, Taxes, and Change.

There ALL certain to happen in life.

But most importantly, we’ve armed you with a 3 step process for embracing change, accepting it, and navigating it with wisdom and grace! (damn I make us sound good!)

Now it’s your turn.

Get out there this week, stay focused, and when the unexpected change hits, trust in yourself that you know exactly what to do! (And if you don't, just come back to this email!)

See you next week!