Much of life feels like firefighting. We run around pouring water on flames and stomping out embers from past fires to prevent future flare-ups. These fires typically consist of relational issues, bills, lack of employment, anxiety, family, and an overall feeling of being unsettled.

The dragon in your life is happy to see you play volunteer firefighter. He laughs at our attempts to manage the heat with our bucket and garden hoses. He relishes the opportunity to keep you occupied while he hides in the corner.

The challenge for you all this week is to take a step back and find the dragon. We are spending too much time mitigating the damage when we should be picking up our sword and addressing the root cause of the inferno. Sure, some things may sizzle while you are on the hunt, but this may be your only shot to get to where you were meant to be.

Level Up,

Matt Davenport

C.E.O.

I’m not an expert in human behavior but my life experiences have shown me that those who own the good, bad, and ugly outcomes of their life tend to be happier. I believe humility is the best soil for authenticity to grown in. Men and women that own their mistakes and celebrate their victories are nice to be around. They laugh at themselves; they work hard and at the end of the day they sleep well at night.

Pretending to be mistake-free is painfully obvious to the onlooker. Pretenders are those that when challenged blame others. Ownership requires courage and self-belief that the failures are necessary for where you are headed.  Pretending is the equivalent of working out and not being sore the next day. Aches and pains are part of the reward for pushing yourself. It hurts a little, but it also indicates that muscles are expanding, and bones are hardening.

As your Chief Encouragement Officer, I encourage you to start conversations with failures rather than successes. Sharing your building blocks with others is why we are here.

Own it,

Matt Davenport

C.E.O.

Many of us have heard someone utter the statement- there is no such thing as a dumb question. We typically hear this right after someone asks a dumb question. Asking why instead of what and most importantly who is the beginning of a good question.

All of us have suffered trauma at the hands of one thing or another in this life. In fact, you haven’t really lived if you have not been unfairly beat up by something or someone. So what now? Asking why the trauma happened often leads to self-pity and a never-ending supply of excuses. Asking yourself, “what will this trauma be used for” suddenly changes the paradigm. All of the sudden this sack of stones that you have been carrying around now becomes building blocks for future steps.

WHO IS THIS FOR?

Let’s take it one step further, ask Who? Who will I be able to encourage, empathize with, and support because we have a shared trauma?  When we begin to see negatives as passports to help others, we use what was once intended for damage and make it entirely useful and redemptive.

Flip the Script,

Matt Davenport

C.E.O.

I don’t believe in positive mental attitude. I believe that having a positive attitude is simply about being humble and grateful. Have you ever met someone that was nearly impossible to encourage? These people are professional self-fulfilling prophets who intentionally let anybody who will listen know how unfair life has been for them. They typically end sentences with… whatever. I’m not here to criticize but the quicker we own ALL of our life the sooner we break through. 

I do believe that a negative attitude is a key ingredient to low self-esteem and loneliness. People that remain negative protect themselves from risk by settling. Once you settle and others don’t you become envious of the others that jumped while you sat down. Envy leads to anger which culminates in apathy.  Apathy if not detected and eliminated early can become viral and destroy a healthy culture overnight.

You can’t fake optimism. To be optimistic one must understand that a perceived failure is simply a building block for future success. Remember rock bottom is one heck of a strong foundation. 

Jump,

Matt Davenport

C.E.O.

I have been in the landscape industry for 20 years. Like most careers, you have generally good days and some bad days. The majority of bad days consist of the feeling like the world won’t keep spinning unless you send your report out. On top of that, we start feeling underappreciated and deserving of more.

I had one of those days 15 years ago. I remember having a feeling of defeat and despair as I began to realize I had more to get done than was possible. As I walked onto the job site to complete item 1 of 150,000 I was notably stressed out. I began to survey the landscape crew when I noticed the writing on a gentlemen’s hat. The script clearly read, “Too blessed to be stressed”. It hit me, my stress was really based on me trying to manage all the good things that had been given to me.

It’s important we acknowledge that the good things in our life have been given to us and not earned. Sure, we work hard and pay our dues, but we are not now and never have been deserving of the blessings in our life.

As your Chief Encouragement Officer, I want to remind you that you’re incredibly blessed. More than 750 million people alive today cannot read because they were not given the opportunity to learn. You on the other hand can read this on a variety of digital platforms and internet-ready devices. If we start by acknowledging that we deserve nothing we begin to recognize that every day is a gift.

Let it flow,

Matt Davenport

C.E.O.