In my five years in the Craft, I’ve become a student of the school of “If you want it done, do it yourself”. Note, I didn’t say if you want it done right. I’m one of those guys who has dozens of ideas at any one time for projects, fundraisers, education, etc, and lord knows I’m not usually the best person to actually enact these plans. I don’t often have the skills or connections to do so. But you know what? If the idea doesn’t get an immediate, enthusiastic response from the person you do think is best to run it, then they’re just not going to do it.
Derek Sivers puts it pretty well here:
You should definitely apply this principle to your masonic life and all the potential time-wasting opportunities that comes with it. But you should also apply it to your lodge when you shout out ideas. If there isn’t a Hell Yeah! response from the Master, or from the principle participating parties, just let it go. In fact, I’ll even give you a free one that I had to let go. Build mason bee “lodges” to donate to community gardens in your area.
Sometimes a great idea gets stuck in your head though. You’ll tell your Worshipful Master and he’ll love the idea and he’s happy to support you. There will be a vote, and people will be happy to vote for it. Committees will be formed! And you know what? Nothing will be done. No one rolls up their sleeves, no one shares the event on facebook, no one does anything, and you walk away frustrated.
There’s a cure for this. Just do it your damn self.
It’s simple. Unless you can just do it yourself, without help, don’t push a project that wasn’t immediately met with a Hell Yeah! response. Because you’ll end up doing it yourself anyway. And don’t feel bad about that. You get all the experience points when you do things yourself!
At my lodge, the most successful things that have ever been started have been started by one guy saying “I’m going to be here on this day at this time to do X,” and that guy is there, doing it. And people join him. Yeah, you might step on a few toes. Sometimes I get a WM who’s a control freak and wants everything signed off by him. Kowtow if you think it’s best, or go off-site if it’s a pain in the ass. But don’t let anyone stop you from following through, because that excitement you have about it is contagious. The reason you may be going at it alone is because we aren’t always able to translate an idea to others on the same level that we see it, but once people can see it in action, and can see it working, they’ll want to be a part of it.
So seriously. Go out and start something. Start some trouble.
Continue reading...
Derek Sivers puts it pretty well here:
You should definitely apply this principle to your masonic life and all the potential time-wasting opportunities that comes with it. But you should also apply it to your lodge when you shout out ideas. If there isn’t a Hell Yeah! response from the Master, or from the principle participating parties, just let it go. In fact, I’ll even give you a free one that I had to let go. Build mason bee “lodges” to donate to community gardens in your area.
Sometimes a great idea gets stuck in your head though. You’ll tell your Worshipful Master and he’ll love the idea and he’s happy to support you. There will be a vote, and people will be happy to vote for it. Committees will be formed! And you know what? Nothing will be done. No one rolls up their sleeves, no one shares the event on facebook, no one does anything, and you walk away frustrated.
There’s a cure for this. Just do it your damn self.
It’s simple. Unless you can just do it yourself, without help, don’t push a project that wasn’t immediately met with a Hell Yeah! response. Because you’ll end up doing it yourself anyway. And don’t feel bad about that. You get all the experience points when you do things yourself!
At my lodge, the most successful things that have ever been started have been started by one guy saying “I’m going to be here on this day at this time to do X,” and that guy is there, doing it. And people join him. Yeah, you might step on a few toes. Sometimes I get a WM who’s a control freak and wants everything signed off by him. Kowtow if you think it’s best, or go off-site if it’s a pain in the ass. But don’t let anyone stop you from following through, because that excitement you have about it is contagious. The reason you may be going at it alone is because we aren’t always able to translate an idea to others on the same level that we see it, but once people can see it in action, and can see it working, they’ll want to be a part of it.
So seriously. Go out and start something. Start some trouble.
Continue reading...
