On a recent trip to Africa, I had the opportunity to do one of my favorite things in the world—go on a safari. There is something so unique and exciting about encountering animals in their natural habitat. Instead of standing on the other side of a cage at a zoo, we rode in a Jeep with open sides, completely exposed to the heat, the dust, and the landscape of the African savannah. Our group was amazed. We were all so excited to see such beautiful and powerful animals up close. But, as we neared our time to leave and head to the airport, we were slightly disappointed because we hadn’t seen many elephants. You would think that such large animals would be easy to find, but we drove around and searched for them for three hours.

On our way out, we finally came upon a group of them. We were surrounded by adults and baby elephants. Unfortunately, we were running late, so we didn’t have time to linger. After pausing for a few minutes, the Jeep charged ahead a little more quickly than usual, and the elephants responded. One elephant began to charge our vehicle, so we stopped immediately. The elephant stopped but stood ready, his eyes on the Jeep. I applied a death grip to my seat, as I watched this elephant poised and ready to charge my side of the vehicle. My heart raced, and I held my breath. When it seemed the elephant had calmed down, we slowly drove away, out of the present (terrifying and exciting) danger.

At the risk of sounding like a spoiled brat, I have to be honest: After this type of experience, it’s hard for me to enjoy the zoo. There is just something about seeing an animal in its natural habitat. There is even that element of risk involved that creates a feeling in me that I don’t experience on the other side of the metal bars that stand between me and the elephants at the zoo.

As I’ve reflected on this experience, it makes me ask this question: Have institutions done to individuals what zoos do to animals? Have the structures we put in place removed so much of who we truly are? We take away most of the risk with the goal of creating a safer space, but in the process, we suppress our uniqueness, our individuality, and our gifts.

Too many businesses make people leave their personality at the door. Too many offices create a culture that rewards routine over innovation.

Too many schools force their students to give up creativity to color inside the lines.

Too many colleges mandate a curriculum of checklists instead of a training ground for the real world.

Too many churches allow Christians to give up their calling for the comfort of the pew.

I think most of us live in a box...willingly. We do everything we can to make our lives comfortable and allow our culture, rather than our convictions, to dictate the course of our lives. Sure, these lives feel safer, but they’re not the lives we were meant to live. We’ve sacrificed what makes us special for what makes us comfortable. Like animals in a zoo, we’ve forfeited what makes us wild and unique to walk willingly into a cage of comfort and ease. Whether you work in a coffee shop, a cubicle, or a corner office, you have a calling on your life! Don’t give in to a pattern of stability to forfeit the future we were created to pursue.

Whether you work in a coffee shop, a cubicle, or a corner office, you have a calling on your life!

This week, unlock the cage and unleash your God-given passion to be who you were truly created to be.

At ADDO, we have an initiative that has been wildly successful. Our target customers are eager consumers, desire to use this product, and believe in its purpose and outcome.

On the other hand, we have another program that is similar in concept— it’s every bit as impactful; we were more thoughtful and strategic in its creation; we did better research ahead of time—but people are simply not as eager to purchase it.

So, what’s the problem? What’s not working?

As a team, we’ve discussed three possible reasons why this product isn’t selling. The process below is simple, practical, and I believe it can be applied to any product or service that you’ve created.

The majority of the time, the problem will be in one of three areas:

1. Prices:

You may have priced your product too high, so your target customers feel it’s too expensive and not worth the money. Conversely, you may have actually set the price too low. Your consumers desire something more elite and exclusive, and the price tag makes it feel cheap. The slow uptick may be because you’ve missed on the price piece. A word of caution: It’s easy to blame the failure of a product launch on its price, but it’s seldom that price is the core of the problem. Keep reading.

2. Product:

For simplicity (and alliteration) let’s allow the word product to stand for whatever you’re selling- a product, a service, an offering, or a program. Is the product you’ve created really what the buyer wants? Is it fulfilling a need that they feel? Is it solving a problem they are having? It’s easy to blame pricing for a slow uptick in sales, but it’s entirely possible that the product is just not right for your target audience. Take the time to ask the tough questions and do the hard work of seeing if you have actually created the right product and identified the correct consumers who need it.  

3. Presentation:

When I say presentation, I am describing the way you have chosen to present your product. Presentation is the way you describe your product, service, or offering to the the potential customer. We seldom place the greatest emphasis, time, and energy on properly presenting our product to our customers, but this is often the main reason our product isn’t selling. We rush to discount the price or label the entire product as a failure, but we may simply need to present our offering in a new way.

It’s important to note: Oftentimes the closer your proximity to a product or program, the harder it is to tell the right story. As innovators, we have a tendency to describe functional details rather than personal impact, and we lose customers in the process.

Oftentimes the closer your proximity to a product or program, the harder it is to tell the right story.

How can we do this effectively?

Instead of describing the minutiae of a new ADDO program, we should emphasize its ability to transform lives.

Instead of outlining her skills as a writer, the freelancer should explain how she can help bring your message to life.

Instead of focusing on their gluten-free products, the donut shop should sell the experience of enjoying their treats.

Instead of explaining their schedule of events, the camp should explain how a week spent with them could bring your family together.

Take an inventory of your offerings. Are they priced correctly? Is the product what consumers want? Have you told the right story?

If something isn’t working, change it. But make sure you’re changing the right thing.

There was a famous English criminal at large in the 1800s named Charlie Peace. After being maimed in an industrial accident as a child, Peace pursued a life of crime, becoming a burglar and a ruthless murderer. After years of evading law enforcement, he was finally arrested and sentenced to death by hanging.

On the morning of Peace’s execution, he ate a hearty breakfast of bacon and seemed surprisingly calm in his final hours of life. As he was being led to the scaffold for his execution, the prison chaplain walked beside him and performed his duty of reading from The Consolations of Religion. As the chaplain unemotionally read from the book, Peace interrupted him and declared, “Sir, if I believed what you...say that you believe, even if England were covered with broken glass from coast to coast, I would walk over it, if need be, on hands and knees and think it worthwhile living, just to save one soul...!”

Do you really believe what you say you believe?

If you really believe God gave you unique talents and abilities, why aren’t you using them?

If you really believe family is important, why don’t you spend time with yours?

If you believe in honest, good work, why are you cheating your employers and colleagues by only working half-heartedly in the office?

If you truly believe that friendships are worth the effort, why have you so quickly given up on your friends?

If you really believe your faith holds truth for all people, why aren’t you sharing it?

If what you believe does not shape your life, maybe you should ask yourself if you really believe what you say you believe.

Your deepest convictions and beliefs should lead you to action. If what you believe does not shape your life, maybe you should ask yourself if you really believe what you say you believe.

When was the last time you were frustrated by a business?

Their product was weak. Their website was not intuitive. The line was out the door. The customer service was terrible.

Our internet-age tendency is to whip out our phone, pull up Yelp, Google, or Amazon, and write a scathing review. We unload on that product, rip the restaurant, or slam the subpar service to make sure nobody else experiences the same frustration and annoyance that we did. Does this make us feel better? Temporarily.

‍Will it help improve the product or business? Hopefully (but not definitely).

I’m not suggesting that we give up reviewing products and services. But could I suggest an alternative option for the next time you really feel like spending your time criticizing something?

‍Create the solution. Create something to make the world better. Make something better than the poor product, the dysfunctional website, the terrible system, or the subpar customer service. The best products are created in response to real problems that we see with the world. I’m well aware that it’s not practical for each of us to create a business every single time we see a flawed product or service.

I firmly believe that the best businesses, products, and services are created in response to real challenges that people face.

Our high school leadership program, Chick-fil-A Leader Academy, was created in response to the need for young people to have a platform to lead. Many students had an outlet to learn leadership techniques, but very few were given the permission and platform to apply their skills and have a positive impact on their communities. We were just bold enough to believe that high school students could make a difference in the world and decided to give them a better way to do it.

‍Amazon Dash was created in response to forgetfulness. Instead of going to the store and forgetting to buy toilet paper, Amazon Dash provides a button you can press that will order you a new case to be sent to your home every time you run out. They eliminate the extra step of forgetting common household items.

‍Uber was created in response to the problem of hailing a taxi at a busy time or on a busy street. Instead of chasing down yellow cars, you can call for an Uber, see the exact time of their arrival, and pay on a convenient mobile app.

The famous artist, Michelangelo, had a modus operandi: “criticize by creating.” He believed the best way to express your displeasure with the status quo is to create something that fixes it.

Learn from the examples of the great artists, innovators, and problem-solvers before you. Stop criticizing. Start creating. Today.

Today, we’re going to dig into one of the exchanges I discuss in 8 Essential Exchanges: What You Have to Give Up to Go Up, but before I begin, I want to reintroduce the concept of exchanges to you.

Exchanges are the toughest choices we face in life. They are trade-offs between two equally good things or between something good and something better. To pursue the better, we have to give up something, often a source of security or something we really enjoy.

Today, I want to focus on exchanging stability for significance. This is the process of giving up something good, and as a result, experiencing discomfort in the pursuit of something better.

Do you think stability is a bad thing? Did you get up this morning and say, “If I could have a little bit more instability at work, in my family, or in my finances, that would be great”? Probably not, and you shouldn’t. We all seek stability in life because it is a part of our human nature. The desire for stability drives us to seek circumstances and situations that are safe.

Nobody naturally seeks instability in the most important areas of their life, but this becomes a problem when our obsession with stability stands in the way of doing something significant.

For me, this exchange happened when I was working for a congressman right out of college. I had my own apartment, a good salary, a nice office, a comfortable work environment—everything that, to me, signaled that I was on the path to success. I was settled into my stable reality when my friend, Garrett, approached me with the idea of starting a company dedicated to equipping and empowering young leaders through experiences around the world.

The mission and vision excited me, but I wrestled with the prospect of leaving the security of my stable job to take a risk and pursue something I was truly passionate about. Ultimately, I took the leap, and it was one of the best and most important decisions of my life. Exchanging stability for significance looks different in each person’s unique set of circumstances. However, the result is usually the same. Most of the greatest regrets happen when individuals choose the safe route rather than the significant route for their lives.

Zig Ziglar said it best: “The chief cause of failure and unhappiness is trading what we want most for what we want now.”

We all seek immediate satisfaction and too often trade lasting purpose to gain temporary comfort. Unfortunately, this promise of present stability doesn’t lead to lasting happiness or a fulfilling life.

In order to do things that are significant, we have to be willing to experience instability.

In order to do things that are significant, we have to be willing to experience instability.

Maybe you need to quit your higher-paying job to pursue your passion of reaching students as a teacher.

Maybe you need to humble yourself and reconcile your relationship to an estranged family member.

Maybe you and your spouse are empty nesters, but you need to consider adopting a child.

Maybe it’s time to be bold and share your faith with the friend you know does not believe the same thing you do.

Maybe you need to use your one free night during the week to cook dinner for the neighbor that’s struggling and needs some extra help.

An exchange for something eternally significant is a change that’s worth making.

Relative deprivation is something I first became aware of when I was a year or two out of college. As I compared myself to my circle of friends, I thought I was doing pretty well. Then, I visited a friend who was living in New York and worked in the finance industry.

I quickly realized that if I were to compare myself to him, I’d be losing. My job was not nearly as prestigious, my clothes not nearly as nice, my home not nearly as impressive, and my life not nearly as exciting as his. It was a fun visit to New York with friends, but I remember returning home and feeling inadequate.

Shortly after this trip, I was introduced to the concept of relative deprivation. Social scientists define this concept as “the discontent people feel when they compare their positions to others and realize that they have less of what they believe themselves to be entitled than those around them.”

It’s a terrible experience to feel less than someone else, but the reality is that we do this to ourselves. We experience relative deprivation when we compare ourselves to each other.

It happens when we see our neighbor pull up in a brand new car and wonder if we’ll ever be able to afford a nicer vehicle.

It happens in the business world when we go to someone’s new office space and wonder why they have the clients and success we don’t have.

It happens when the pastor sees the church down the road that’s double the size of his tiny church building.

It happens when your coworker receives the promotion you think you deserve.

It happens when your friend’s child gets into their dream college, and your child is struggling to get into any college.

When we start comparing ourselves to one another, we start to feel less than, but here’s the truth: We were not created to have an equal amount of things.

This is a tough reality for some people to accept, but it’s a reality nonetheless. We must fight the urge to compare and choose to focus on what we do have. The inverse of this struggle is equally as dangerous. When we compare ourselves with others who have less than we do, we have a false feeling of superiority. Getting caught in the comparison game is a terrible trap that results in a self-image based on the people you encounter each day.

Getting caught in the comparison game is a terrible trap that results in a self-image based on the people you encounter each day.

So, here’s my charge to you (and to myself): Stop worrying about what everyone else has and be thankful for what you have. Easier said than done, but far more fulfilling when you put this principle into practice.

A few months ago, Joseph Habedank came to my church to perform some music and share his story. For those of you who don’t know Joseph Habedank, he’s a Christian singer and songwriter.

Joseph spoke about the pedestal that he is often placed on as a performer. When you are on a stage with bright lights shining on you, people expect certain things from you. Joseph confessed what many of us know to be true—that it’s relatively easy to put on a good face while in the light, but it’s not nearly as easy to be the same person off the stage when no one else is around. After making this honest statement, he sang his song “When the Lights Go Down.”

This excerpt from the chorus hit me like a ton of bricks:

When the stage is bare,

And there's nobody there,

Will it still be my prayer

To live the life they all think I lead?

Recently, I was in Phoenix where I had the opportunity to speak to 1,000 high school students. I thought about Joseph's words, how it applied to my life, and I kept wrestling with this question: “Am I living the life they all think I lead?” When the rubber meets the road, am I truly practicing what I preach?

I can attest that it’s a lot easier to be bold on stage than it is in real life. However, I want to be the same off-stage as I am on stage. When I tell people to give up stability to do something significant, I want to be willing to do that.

When I tell people to invest in their employees, I need to hold myself to the same standard.

If I’m challenging someone to share their faith openly, I should be doing the same.

Benjamin Franklin explained it best: “Well done is better than well said.” Practicing what we preach reinforces our message and is the true catalyst to lasting change and impact.

Practicing what we preach reinforces our message and is the true catalyst to lasting change and impact.

So decide today that you’ll do what you say, even when nobody's watching.

When is the right time to launch a new product? When is the perfect moment to seize a new opportunity?

‍Now.

‍Entrepreneurs often ask me these questions, and I am becoming more bold in encouraging them to act sooner rather than later. It’s not that I always think their products or opportunities are perfect, but if someone doesn’t encourage them to act now, it’s quite possible that they never will. A lot of times, we hesitate to deliver a new product or service until we believe it’s perfect. While we are waiting, we might miss the opportunity to be the first of our kind in a new market. Or, as we agonize trying to make our offering better, we fail to put our solution in front of customers and get the feedback we really need.

When you have a new idea, pursue it. Organizations that fail to innovate ultimately die because it takes them too long to launch new products and services. Too many businesses are too hesitant, too risk-averse, and have too many laborious processes in place that prohibit progress. Don’t be one of those organizations!

Before Warby Parker came along, people that wore eyeglasses understood that they would have to drop a fortune when it was time to update their prescription. They trusted local retailers or their doctor’s offices to name the price and hoped that insurance would cover a portion of the cost. The founders of Warby Parker saw this was a problem and pursued the solution through innovation. They make stylish eyeglasses affordable and accessible to all people through their website and local stores in select cities. For every pair of glasses bought, they donate another pair to people in need and still manage to be one of the most successful and profitable new companies of this decade. The founders of Warby Parker had an idea, took a risk, and established a company that provides an innovative (and stylish) solution to an expensive problem for millions of people.

If you search long enough and hard enough, you’ll always be able to find reasons to justify not taking a risk. Don’t give yourself the time to find those reasons.

If you search long enough and hard enough, you’ll always be able to find reasons to justify not taking a risk.

As I get older, the projects get bigger, the stakes get higher, and I find it increasingly more difficult to fight the gravitational pull of doubt. But, each time I’m willing to take the leap, it opens new opportunities to create something remarkable.

Pearl Buck explained this phenomenon well: “The young do not know enough to be prudent; therefore, they attempt the impossible and achieve it generation after generation.”

Because young people “don’t know better,” they strive for things that many believe to be impossible. And you know what? They often achieve their goals simply because they had the courage to start pursuing them. Innovation is an area of life and of business where the old can learn something from the young. Stop thinking. Start doing. Now.

I have twin nephews who turned a year old in January, and they are fun, active, and overall, very easy babies. Throughout their first year of life, I soaked up all of the ways they were rapidly growing and developing. Each new development amazed me—the first time they locked eyes with mine, the first time they grasped my finger with their tiny hands, the first time they gave me little smiles, the first time I heard them laugh, the first time I saw them crawl, and more recently, the first time I watched them take tiny steps. The list gets longer as the boys get older, develop unique personalities, and experience the challenges that come with growing up. One of these challenges is teething.

As I mentioned, my nephews are generally easy-going, so when I first encountered their fussiness and irritability during this phase, I was surprised. My sister and her husband tried everything to help the boys. Pacifiers, teething rings, tylenol, you name it, and I can guarantee that they gave it a shot. However, the boys were still in pain and had to endure it to get their first teeth. The most pitiful part of watching my nephews, or any babies for that matter, go through this was that they didn’t understand the reason for their pain. It would be so much easier if you could just explain to them: “Guys, I know this stinks, but the pain is worth it. Teeth present great opportunities. Once you have them, you don’t have to eat nasty baby food anymore!”

I just knew it would make the pain easier if they could understand it was for good and for their growth, but I had an epiphany: As adults, we are smart enough to understand the importance of growth, but we are no more tolerable of growth than a baby is.

When we work out for the first time in three months, we complain because we’re sore. But, that’s a good thing. We’re getting stronger and in better shape.

When our companies grow, it cuts into our time, and we quickly become frustrated. But, growth is a good thing. We want our companies to be successful. When our churches expand, we get overwhelmed with needing more space to manage so many new faces and families and forget the blessing it is to welcome new people. We want our church families to grow.

When we experience growth, we often forget to remind ourselves that growth produces opportunity, and opportunity is a good thing. Even though we have a low tolerance for the pain associated with growth, it’s helpful to remind ourselves to reflect on the end goal and the good that will come out of the temporary discomfort.

When we experience growth, we often forget to remind ourselves that growth produces opportunity, and opportunity is a good thing.

Are you experiencing growing pains in your personal or professional life? This week, take some time to reflect on ways that you’ve worked through challenging seasons of growth. I hope this time encourages you to see the good in the pain and to press on to grow in the weeks, months, and years to come.