Stubborn Sauce

Posted on January 20, 2017 by Andrew Bustamante

My wife refuses to eat white chicken meat without BBQ sauce. For seven years now I’ve made space on her dinner plate for the customary pour of sauce, regardless of what else might be served along with her meat. The smile that stretches across her face every time she dips her bite ensures I’ll be doing this routine well into old age. Our list of tried and yet-to-be-tasted BBQ sauces is long, mostly due to our son’s love for dark chicken meat… no sauce. While our little family does its bit to keep the poultry and BBQ sauce markets humming, I can’t help but wonder about the sauce. Her stubborn sauce.

What is stubborn sauce? When the extra that is supposed to compliment the main becomes more important than the main itself, that is stubborn sauce. It’s easy to see how silly stubborn sauce is when we witness a child reject their hamburger because it doesn’t have ketchup or toss a piece of toast because it doesn’t have jam. But the truth is that the impact of stubborn sauce goes far beyond our plates and stomachs.

My stubborn sauce is not edible. For me, it is a part of my history; the part that describes how and why relationships and dialogue became so important to me. I have been so concerned about sharing those details that I end up undermining the power of my story as a whole. The more I insist on having my stubborn sauce, the less I get to enjoy sharing my story. It is no different than my wife and her healthy white meat. The photographer who never submits a photo because it isn’t perfect knows stubborn sauce. The blogger who fills their DRAFTs folder but not their live blog knows stubborn sauce also. Anyone who ‘would have’, ‘could have’, ‘should have’ or ‘may have’ has stood in line with me, hungry for our portion of stubborn sauce.

Yet like every good bottle of BBQ sauce, stubborn sauce can run out – if you let it. The only thing standing between white chicken meat and my wife’s digestive system is her. It is her choice. The only thing standing between me and the full potential of my story is the same… me.

Me.Now. is not about what was, but rather what can be. It is about realizing that stubborn sauce does nothing except take away the opportunity for each of us to enjoy something great. One day somebody made a hamburger for dinner and imagined a wonderful quiet evening with a beer, a burger and their favorite TV show. When they opened the fridge, imagine their disappointment when they discovered there was no ketchup. Rather than give up on the night, that person reached across the mayo, mustard and relish to grab a tall red bottle with SRIRACHA on the side. Did they know how it would turn out? Nope. But trying a new sauce is always better than losing a hamburger.

Revolutionary Evolution

Posted on January 5, 2017 by Andrew Bustamante

There is a special, productive relationship between evolution and revolution. In preparing for this post I was surprised to find that a number of articles argue the opposite – that revolution and evolution are diametrically opposed. Technocrats, theologians and even anarchists agree that the benefits of evolution contradict the benefits of revolution, and vice versa. Realizing that each person will come to their own conclusions, this post is dedicated to those willing to consider revolutionary evolution as a path to great achievement.

Evolution is defined as, ‘the development of something from a simple to a complex form.’ Evolution is a slow, steady change agent that seeks continual improvement. Consider your daily routine as an example. With each new life change, our daily routines are impacted and we suffer a period of transition: a change of season, a new job, a new child, etc. Few sit down and create a plan to account for the changes. Instead, we trust that a new routine will evolve naturally over time. Evolution is the guarantee that perseverance will yield improvement.

Revolution is defined as, ‘a forcible overthrow in favor of a new system.’ Unlike evolution, revolution is the deliberate choice to pursue something new. When we find ourselves in a situation that we do not want, where we do not thrive, or where we feel confined, we always have the option to revolt. Similarly, if we find a new system that we prefer (new job, new partner, new place) we also have the option to revolt and leave the old behind. Whether expressed as words, actions or both, revolution is the promise of freedom.

The partnership of both concepts together gives us the confidence to persist (evolution) and the freedom to change course (revolution). While conventional thought dictates that we must choose between the two, the greatest success awaits those who can leverage both. Nowhere is this truth more apparent than in goal setting.

Too often, the journey of goal setting is neutered down to simple pass-fail criteria; Meet the goal = pass, Miss the goal = fail. I argue that goal setting is revolutionary evolution at its best! A person makes a New Year’s resolution to lose 30 pounds. During their weight loss routine, they discover a passion for running – EVOLUTION! Their passion connects them to a new group of friends and inspires a new healthy lifestyle – REVOLUTION! One year later, the person’s body has been transformed to support their fitness but they only lost 20 lbs. Pass-fail criteria has no place among great achievements.

In 1968, an engineer named Spencer Silver was ridiculed when he did not meet his goal to create a powerful new adhesive. Despite repeated demonstrations that his new adhesive had value, his career and reputation suffered because others judged his goal to be a failure. Six years later, a colleague named Art Fry attended one of Spencer’s demonstrations and realized the importance of Spencer’s new invention. It was immediately patented and trademarked as The Post-It Note. That ‘failure’ now earns the company 3M $1 billion a year.

Evolution will bring revolution, and revolution lays the foundation for new evolution. Trust your journey and seek out those who recognize the value of your effort. Failure is a simple concept for simple thinking; it does not account for growth, challenge, or impact. Me.Now. has launched a revolution against simple thinking. All are welcome to evolve with us.

The Case for New Thinking

Posted on December 5, 2016December 16, 2016 by Andrew Bustamante

Conventional thought dictates that we prioritize pragmatism over idealism. To even question why the one takes precedence over the other will likely earn a blank stare and an awkward chuckle from most people. Because we have been conditioned to share our idealism cautiously, most of our interpersonal interactions – with strangers, coworkers, family and friends – are superficial or passive. For this reason, the natural creativity and originality that springs from our collective idealism gets bottle-necked as we favor a more ordinary existence.

To many, ordinary fits well. Routine and repetition bring comfort and predictability. Because conventional thought is derived from the ideas of the majority, those individuals who struggle with the mundane can feel discouraged in their pursuit of the new and original. For them, ordinary does not fit quite so well.

Rather than expect the idealistic, creative, and adventurous to ‘fit in’ to the world, I challenge us to consider the opposite. Too few carry the passion and vision to explore beyond the ordinary. Ordinary is convenient, it is commonplace, it is easy to reproduce and even easier to understand. Ordinary is a like a men’s size 10.5 shoe. Worn by 68% of the male American Population, a size 10.5 shoe is as unremarkable, mundane, and conventional as it gets.

While the world is full of people with a size 10.5 shoe, consider those that do not ‘fit’ that size. Professional basketball players (size 14), performance swimmers (size 12), and Olympic sprinters (size 13) are on the far end of the shoe size bell curve. Opposite them we find conquering warriors from the past like Genghis Khan and Alexander the Great with shoe sizes between 7-9. To these extraordinary individuals, it would be ludicrous to try and fit into a size 10.5 shoe. It would be the wrong fit. It would be uncomfortable. It would diminish their natural abilities.

Just as we do not see pro athletes or commanding generals hobbling around trying to fit into the ordinary shoe, we should not let ordinary thinking hinder our passions or creativity. If the fit is wrong, the performance suffers. Generations of social, cultural and even familial standards built the foundation for today’s conventional mindset. How much more impressive, then, are those born from traditional roots but with the vision and purpose to explore beyond the ordinary. With idealism comes hope and courage; and from hope and courage comes growth.

We are surrounded by attendants for the commonplace. Business, education, politics, and even art continually reward those who comply with the status quo and adhere to direction. It will be a proportionate minority who ultimately persevere to bring about evolutionary advancements in industry, science and society. It will not be the pragmatists who shepherd us to new discovery; it will be the idealists.