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Stop and Smell the Roses
Stop and smell the roses. This phrase has been used to explain the importance of slowing down and even stopping to observe the beauty of life. Most often we race from destination to destination. We need to graduate, get a job, get married, buy a house, have kids, build a career, plan retirement, retire and then travel (code for smelling roses).
It’s kind of sad when it’s written out like that. We are goal-driven and seek to accomplish in order to better our station in life. Goals are great and hard work is even better but is it possible that we’re driven to accomplish simply because we can. To my knowledge, we are the only species in the universe that can cogitate, set goals, work hard, fail time after time, work harder and then achieve them. It is also my understanding that we are the only species that is able to make a conscious decision to stop and enjoy life.
Vacationing is not the answer. Stopping and smelling the roses is different from planning, saving, and initiating travel to anywhere but home. Stopping requires you to halt forward motion. To stop our forward motion requires as much discipline as a movement. It seems simple but it’s not. Stopping is frowned on. Stopping will get you honked at and have people questioning your abilities and common sense.
Smelling is one of the five senses and more importantly, the one tied closest to memory. Smelling requires a deep breath and typically ends with a smirk or smile. Today is the day that you have the opportunity to slow your heart rate. Take a walk outside, set the goals aside, come to a complete stop, take a big inhale through your nose and exhale with gratitude for all that you have been given.
Breathe,
Matt Davenport
C.E.O.
TOO BLESSED TO BE STRESSED
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.
RIGHT AS RAIN
Being right and being right as rain are two opposite destinations. The reason we get upset, offended, irritated, dismayed, sullen, and withdrawn is rooted in our desire to be right. The phrase, right as rain speaks of health and being made whole.
Poor health is not always how your body is performing. A person in poor health can also be when an individual allows the dust and quagmire of the day to negatively affect the next.
Life tells us that every living thing has an ending point. A point at which there is no future. A point where what has been done in our time on earth is set in stone. There is no opportunity to correct, laugh or apologize anymore. The knowledge of this fact should be invigorating, encouraging, enlightening, and motivating.
Plato wrote that Courage is knowing what not to fear. Fear divides us. Fear multiplies upon itself and acts as a chain around our hearts and heads. As your Chief Encouragement Officer, I want to invite you to drive out fear and invite hope in. In order to be right as rain, we must take the infirmities that have long plagued us and cut the chain they are tied to. Look up and allow the clouds of humility and reconciliation to open and make us right as rain.
Let it go,
Matt Davenport
C.E.O.
YOU ARE HERE
We have all done it. You park the car and confidently open the oversize doors of your local mall. You pay attention to where you are parked but not as much to which side of the mall you should have parked on. You are focused on finding Wetzel Pretzel or some other thing you don’t really need, and then in a moment, you realize that you are lost.
Suddenly you see that odd structure proudly presenting the map of the mall. As you make your way over to the board you see a few other folks who are just as lost as you are. This informational display has now become a water cooler for people who don’t have all the answers but know where to go if they need them. Behold, there it is, the red dot proclaiming YOU ARE HERE.
That red dot is quite profound. Just when you think you and those around you are lost that little red ray of hope appears. The truth is most of us are lost because we parked ourselves on the wrong side of reality. Being lost assumes that you’re in the wrong place. I disagree, being lost while earnestly seeking being found is a magical place. It’s a place that leads to a deep and triumphant revelation about who you are and where you are supposed to be.
It would be fantastic if these maps were in plain site throughout every stage of our life. The reality is the maps are there they are just not utilized enough. The maps for your life come in the shape of real friends, real community, and real relationships. These real signs tell us the truth when we think we are lost. These living breathing signs affirm that you are here, and you matter.
Make it a great week,
Matt Davenport
C.E.O.
GROWTH WITH PURPOSE
Did you ever have growing pains as a kid? I did and they were very uncomfortable and painful. The bright side was that I knew that pain had a purpose, and it was a clear sign that I was growing. When purpose is identified in any activity our perspective changes.
Today we honor Martin Luther King Jr. He was not a perfect man by any stretch of the imagination, but he was a man with a purpose. He was quoted saying life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others? His purpose was clear and as result, he bettered our country and inspired growth around the world.
Let’s take your health for example, maintaining your weight requires a balancing act between exercise and discipline. It would be fantastic if you could establish a health standard for yourself and hit a maintenance button that required no work. Unfortunately, there is not an app for that.
Growing with purpose is different than pursuing growth. To acquire new business or new relationships for the sake of growth is shallow and an exercise in futility. Pursuing new business or relationships for the purpose of serving others is deep and long-lasting. As your Chief Encouragement Office, I want us all to grow this year, but I want us to pursue growth that is generational. Growth is good, Growth with purpose changes the world.
Get Growing,
Matt Davenport
C.E.O.
CULTIVATE COLLABORATION
Collaboration is a skill that requires maturity, humility, and want to. On paper, it seems obvious that we should all be working together. So why don’t we?
Personally, I think we don’t collaborate because we don’t relate. How can one be asked to set aside differences and co-labor if we don’t know which differences to set aside? In order to build a relationship, one must spend time with the other person. This time doesn’t have to be intense or groundbreaking. When developing any new relationship, the quantity of time seems to be more important than quality. As the relationship matures, that paradigm will shift. We all have friends that we don’t see very often but once we are together it’s like we never left.
When we are in a relationship with others the goals get bigger and broader. The goals set in a collaborative environment can only be accomplished with the others around you. This is where the fun begins. This is also where we need to circle back to the relationships. Many relationships get lost in collaboration. The reason being, some will take advantage of those relationships and become entitled in their approach to collaboration. Nurturing the relationships throughout any collaborative process ensures that future success is ahead. Fail to acknowledge the importance of humility and you will be jettisoned back to selfdom.
What is done by you will be enjoyed by you. What is done with others will be enjoyed with others. This simple sentiment is the key to collaboration. As your Chief Encouragement Officer, I encourage you to Dream Big! Dream so big that you will fall flat on your face without the help of those you share a relationship with.
Happy New Year,
Matt Davenport
C.E.O.
WHAT ARE YOUR CORE VALUES?
Hi there! Thank you for taking the time to read this. In October, Monarch decided to refine our core values. Our previous list of values was very admirable and true. However, they felt a little like something I put together because I knew we needed a list of words to anchor our mission. I probably read a business article talking about the importance of mission statements and other business phrasings.
12 years later I approached refining these values differently. I asked a few staff members to spend some time with me coming up with a theme for 2021. Themes are good because they drive marketing, conversations and unite a group of people. Think of a themed conference or party. The theme gives you a broad-brush idea of what to expect when you get there.
As we began to discuss theme ideas, one staff member said let’s take a theme from our core values. As we read through the dry list of words it became obvious that we needed to make these values more personal. I asked the team gathered to tell me what they see every day at Monarch. Core values are who you are not who you want to be. That being said, we identified the following:
ROOTED IN RELATIONSHIPS
CULTIVATING COLLABORATION
GROWTH WITH PURPOSE
As we cemented these values it dawned on me that one cannot Grow without Collaboration and one can’t Collaborate without Relationships. These values work in business and in life. If you are frustrated or feel stuck it’s most likely because you are not growing. The lack of growth is going to be tied to relationship issues or lack of depth in the roots.
As your Chief Encouragement Officer, I challenge everyone to take inventory of your relationships. If your relationships are healthy, expect a big year that will include exciting collaboration and healthy growth.
Merry Christmas,
Matt Davenport
C.E.O.
GET SMALL TO GET BIG
This month is always amazing and exhausting. In addition to the holidays, we have two daughters that have December birthdays. By the time Santa gets here I feel like an ATM machine buried in some smoke-filled casino. A few years ago I made a conscious effort to try and fight back the Grinchy tendencies by reducing December commitments and focusing on what’s important.
Most recently, my oldest daughter Madison turned sixteen. Madison is the type of kid that makes you feel like a good parent. She is smart, beautiful, and grounded. So, what does a smart, beautiful, and grounded young woman want to do for her birthday? Go stargazing of course. At her behest, my wife, Madison, and her three best friends loaded up the RV and headed to Joshua tree.
Due to Covid restrictions, we were forced to stay at a private campground in 29 palms. This extremely remote location was nothing but sand and stars. The new moon laid the black sky bare for us to see. This particular day was the Geminid meteor shower which was gracing us with nearly 100 shooting stars an hour.
There we were sitting with our lawn chairs leaned all the way back in the middle of the desert. We piled up blankets, crammed hand warmers in our pockets, and simply stared off into the great unknown. As the minutes passed, my mind began to move away from analytical and into observation. Stars seem to be falling on top of us and I simply felt small. Better said, I felt like a should feel.
Often times, we think we are bigger than we are. We think if this goes right or if this goes wrong life is over. Yet, there I was with my wife, my oldest child, and her best friends realizing that I am small. I require help, I don’t control every outcome.
Getting small means to see yourself rightly. Nature always does that to me. I feel like I’m in control until I get into the ocean. I feel strong until I walk amongst trees that have survived the past 200 years. I feel noteworthy until I stare up into the sky. Anytime I stop thinking about myself, I become more creative and think bigger.
Your Chief Encouragement Officer hasn’t figured anything out. I’m on a journey just like you. My encouragement this week is simple. If you feel Big, Get Small. If you feel Small, Think Big.
Star Gaze,
Matt Davenport
C.E.O.
ARE YOU A LEADER?
The simple answer is yes. We are all leaders in our own spheres. Leadership happens in the home, at work, with kids, at the car wash, at Costco, on the freeway, you name it, leadership is required in every aspect of your day. You are probably disqualifying yourself as you read this. Well… I’m not a leader like this person or all I do is this or that. Stop it!
There are 2 types of leaders, good leaders and bad leaders. A good leader is able to pull something out of a person that others never thought possible. A good leader sees value in others and does not seek recognition in the process. A good leader is a person that is willing to speak hard truths to someone who is humble enough to hear it.
A good leader goes out ahead of those they are leading and looks for landmines. A good leader does what they are asking you to do. A good leader takes ownership of the mistakes of those they are leading. A good leader never blames others. A good leader is always learning. A good leader is a hard worker. A good leader is persistent. A good leader elevates those around them. A good leader is accountable to their purpose. A good leader reproduces other good leaders.
A bad leader does the exact opposite of all those listed above.
You are a leader. You may not be a perfect leader but if you listen, humble yourself and acknowledge that you are held to a higher standard than others, you will grow into a leader that you would want to follow.
Lead,
Matt Davenport
C.E.O.
IT’S GO TIME!
Procrastination is one of the worst and hardest habits to shake. As a kid, procrastination was an easy way to escape homework for a few hours to make room for something far more fun. As we enter our teen years, delaying action was typically in the form of job applications, summer school or any mundane yet required activity. As an adult, these seemingly harmless synonyms can be replaced with one word- postponement.
Meaningless late 5th grade homework assignments have turned into postponing your dreams. Grown-ups are great with manipulating language to make us feel better about our appetite for inaction. In October of every year we boldly proclaim, I’m going to wait until the new year to break or start a habit. What is that? We would never let our kids get away with this sort of self-destructive postponement.
Intentionally delaying a decision can be strategic but not acting on a decision once made creates anxiety and leads to low self-esteem. We were made with a mind that gives us the opportunity to dream and decide what we want to be when we grow up. That same mind is powerful and understands the work associated with those dreams. Often times the raging debate going on in our head resembles the bloviating commentators on every major news network. The reality is that you have 2 or 3 things that you really want to accomplish. Not only do you want to do them, but you can do them. The only thing stopping you is the hard work and self-discipline required between here and there.
As you Chief Encouragement Officer, I would like you to remember who you are. You have accomplished much but there is more to be had. You have dreams and goals that are balled up in the desk of your mind. Reach in there and pull them out one by one. It’s been said that all good ideas devolve into hard work. This is true but the hard work between us and our dreams is what we were made for.
Oh the places you’ll go,
Matt Davenport
C.E.O.
TREE OF LIFE
Ancient wisdom tells us that Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is like a tree of life. We are 59 days from 2021 and this year has made many of us feel heartsick. We have hoped for health and prosperity yet many of our neighbors and fellow citizens have experienced the opposite.
We are on the precipice of a new chapter in our history. This chapter will be new for you personally and for our nation historically. As I write this, I feel hope bubbling up once again. The hope that I have is not based on change but rather on the fact that the things that matter have remained.
The past 9 months have helped us realize the need for personal connection in the midst of the “I” revolution. iPhone, iPad, I this and I that. The hope that has ultimately been differed is the one that yearns for deep human connection. Zoom rooms have been a real gift during this time but they fall far short of the family rooms our souls most deeply require.
The most difficult part of differed hope is anticipating if it will be met. The moment when heart sickness is met with hope and fulfillment is usually when we let go. Letting go takes intentionality. When we let go, we often find ourselves sitting under a tree of life with our family and friends.
Stay Rooted,
Matt Davenport
C.E.O.
TO DO LIST
Did you ever notice that your to-do list is all about you? When is the last time you made a to-list that involved other people? It sounds strange but the discipline of writing down a list of ways you are going to bless somebody is quite refreshing. Even more exhilarating is to cross off the list as your week goes by. Here are a few ideas:
-Buy a cup of coffee for the person in line behind you
-Compliment a stranger
-Write down what you are grateful for
-Hold the door for somebody
-Leave a big tip
-Call someone you have been meaning to
-Say thank you
-Listen with all of your might
-Don’t have an agenda when meeting with somebody
-Turn your phone off when you are with people
-Give blood
-Drop off clothes at Goodwill
-Bring a friend dinner
-Have grace for those closest to you
-Be slow to anger while driving
-Count your blessings
-Smile
-Call your Mom
-Be nice
-Offer to pick up groceries for a neighbor
As you Chief Encouragement Officer, I want to offer you a bit of respite from yourself. Thinking about others is one thing, doing things for others is quite another. Let’s go out this week with a mission to make somebody else’s life better!
It’s not about you,
Matt Davenport
C.E.O.
PTGO
Post Traumatic Growth Opportunity. This phrase came to my mind when listening to a recent Simon Sinek podcast discussing how people respond to challenges. We face trauma in various ways throughout our days and weeks. When these dramatic events occur, we get to decide whether these events will serve us or damage us down the road. Quite astonishing when we say it like that. Situation arises, goes sideways, we choose which bucket to place it in- future building or future baggage.
I began my journey towards optimism 12 years ago. The catalyst was desperation. When you are starting a business, any negative thoughts have to be immediately wrapped up and thrown out the window. Why? Because negative thoughts lead to negative actions and negative actions lead to negative results. Plus, being positive costs the same as being negative. So why not flip the script and say this is going to be great.
With a PTGO mindset, almost anything life throws at you feels like an opportunity to learn. We need to recategorize difficult times from failure to data collection. I have been collecting data my whole life and that data is now protecting me from potholes down the road. The smartest PTGO mind setters hang around with folks that have already blown out a few tires and are eager to share their data points with you.
As your Chief Encouragement Officer, I would like to challenge the readers this week to do something nice for a stranger. This simple act of benevolence will set your week off on the right trajectory. One thing is for sure when we think less about ourselves and more about others, life seems to add up.
Pick your bucket wisely,
Matt Davenport
C.E.O.
CONTROL FREAK
We are 10 months into a year that will forever change the nation, the world and your life. The next 10 months will be different. That’s just it, every day is different. We can’t hold onto things of the past and effectively move into the future. It would be like holding onto the bumpers of 2 cars slowing pulling the opposite direction. Here is my advice, let go of both bumpers and simply give yourself the opportunity to enjoy today.
Control is at the center of most of our stress. We are stressed about the outcome of the election. What if your candidate loses? What if this happens, what if that happens? What will the economy do? What will the world look like for my kids? All of these concerns are to not be taken lightly but they are to be held loosely. If you are honest with yourself, you will admit that the greatest things that have ever happened to you were outside of your control.
We often have great things happen to us that were unplanned and totally undeserved. Instead of continuing to walk and enjoy what we received we put that blessing into a chokehold by managing the fun right out it. STOP IT. Attempting to control the outcome of every situation is exhausting and counterproductive. Not only does it not work but it makes being around you miserable. Here are a few tips for intentionally releasing control:
-Admit that you are not any good at control once you have it.
-Write down all the good events in your life that came outside of your planning
-Be quick to be generous
-Ask someone you trust to remind you when you are beginning to micromanage
-Get over yourself
In order to get over yourself entirely, you must accurately see yourself. This tall task cannot be done on an island and requires a community of good friends. As your Chief Encouragement Officer, I challenge you to take inventory of your stress and see how much of it is related to control. You may want to ask yourself this tough question if 2020 hasn’t beaten the control freak out of me, what will?
CHILL OUT,
Matt Davenport
C.E.O.
