"Unless commitment is made, there are only promises and hopes; but no plans." Peter Drucker.
Having established the TRAPEX mission, we can begin the conversation about our methodology. For that conversation to be fruitful, we must establish our foundational principles. This will allow you to discern whether TRAPEX is right for you, thus minimizing the risks of miscommunication and misunderstandings down the road. If nothing else, we believe these principles can help to inform how to live an examined life, a worthwhile goal regardless of any future engagement with TRAPEX.
Principle One: You must resolve to live your best life and be intensely committed to finding and adhering to the path necessary to do so. If you understand that there is a gap between where you are now and where you want to be, we can probably help you. If you have achieved maximal health, emotional well-being, and professional fulfillment, if your interpersonal relationships are characterized by strength, honesty, and joy, then feel no need to read further. But if you believe there lies a distance between where you are now and where you can be, then read on.
We define “consulting” as assisting clients in their journey from where they are, or their “starting position,” to where they want to be, their “desired end state.” The hardest part of that process is establishing one’s true starting position. The most ancient Greek philosophical advice known to us is to “know thyself.” It seems intuitive and almost unnecessary. We presume that we do, and we devote very little thought or energy to further exploration. But in adopting this attitude, we give short shrift to our own depth, the scope of our locus of control, and mankind’s endless capacity for self-deception and cognitive dissonance. Are you willing to have difficult conversations about what your starting position is and why you are where you are? Do you believe that you have the capacity to change the course of your own life in a positive direction? Then I urge you to read on.
Everyone wants to make the team. Everyone wants to win the game. Everyone wants the fruits. It’s not the desire that separates us. It is the labor. One must have the will to prepare to win, to paraphrase Bobby Knight, the (in)famous hall of fame Indiana University basketball coach. Sometimes it is not even the willingness to do the labor that separates us. Many of the hardest working people I’ve ever known are among the least “successful.” More than doing the labor, one must have the wisdom to discern the most productive labor and the most rewarding goal against which to aim their efforts. Confucius said that “all people are the same; only their habits differ.” Goals are one thing, but it is habits and processes that differentiate achievers from dreamers, talkers from doers. Beyond the desire to be THE best is the drive to be YOUR best. If that idea resonates with you, read on.
If you are striving to grow, if you aspire to realize your greatest potential, and if you are committed to your own excellence, TRAPEX can help you on your path. That said, do not look to us, or anyone beyond yourself, to blaze that trail for you. You must be willing to do the work, hold yourself accountable, endure the slings and arrows, and climb back into the saddle each time you allow yourself to be thrown. Change comes with discomfort, uncertainty, and frustration, if not anger and despair. Your knowledge, presumptions, principles, values, and beliefs will be challenged. But you should want that, for those that are serving you well will withstand the crucible and be stronger as a result of the test.
Change will not be easy, but it will result in a healthy, motivated, enthusiastic, focused, strong, courageous, and resilient you. If you are not committed to that journey, put this down and come back when you are ready. Physicist Richard Feynman famously stated, “the first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool.” But if you are truly ready for the journey, we are here to help.
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