Instinct: The Power to Unleash Your Inborn Drive (5 page)

The decoding process does not require a battery of aptitude tests, personality panels, or psychoanalysis. It simply requires you to become a student of yourself. Right now, go and see what you have bookmarked as “favorites” on your computer. Look at the images you’ve collected on Pinterest—what do they all have in common? Whose Twitter feeds have you been compelled to save and return to again and again? What magazines do you always pick up while waiting in the dentist’s office? Which blogs magnetically pull you back to ponder another’s observations and affinities?

Please keep in mind, you must be honest with yourself here. Cut through the books on your bedside table that you’re
supposed
to read or the Snapchat exchanges you feel
obligated
to return. Others may not know about these interests and excursions in your life, but you know they are there. Your dream to run a bed-and-breakfast. Your curiosity about how to create a new investment portfolio. Your guilty pleasure of reading romance novels. Your ability to sew a jacket that looks like something off the rack.

These are the clues that are all around you, my friend! Use your instincts to guide you to what you
love but may not have allowed yourself to admit. Dredge up your favorite memories of childhood and what gave you pleasure. Was it building new, never-before-seen structures with Legos? Creating stories about your friends set on another planet? Caring for your pets with the love and attention of a new parent? Whatever once had the power to float your boat can still rock your world!

It may feel silly or childish at first, embarrassing to admit, or crazy to consider. But search through the archeology of your own ambition. Don’t disregard any attraction, interest, passion, or proclivity as being too “out there” to examine and extract information from. You never know what you might discover by thinking outside the box that culture, conformity, and critics have tried to impose.

Once you have a decent list of these personal preferences and uniquely special variables, look for patterns, similarities, and common denominators. Group them according to how they move you, speak to you, motivate you, and stimulate you. What sparks your creative impulse? Who motivates you as a role model? Where do you feel most alive?

Nothing is off-limits as you explore. You are the most fascinating person you will ever know! So don’t cover up, deny, suppress, or pretend otherwise. Allow the true you to come out, the softer side, the edgier side, the creative side, the more organized side, the driven side, the liberated side, the “who cares what
people think” side, and the “this makes me feel alive” side. This is the soil where you will discover seeds planted long ago waiting to burst through the surface of your consciousness and bear fruit. This is the galaxy of stars that can illuminate your journey through whatever darkness you may encounter. This is the area that can give you the satisfaction of knowing that you and you alone are doing what only you can do.

If this excavation process intrigues you, then I invite you to spend some time uncovering your greatest vital resources. I merely provide these questions and suggestions here as catalysts for this lifelong learning process.

M
any people seem astounded that I have a finger in so many pies besides ministry—business, writing, speaking, music, film, and television, to name a few—and often inquire about my motivation in exploring such diverse endeavors. They don’t realize that my entrepreneurial spirit has always been a part of who I am and where I came from.

Growing up, I watched my father start with a mop and bucket and begin a janitorial service that eventually serviced dozens of schools, offices, and churches. In addition to keeping our house clean and cooking meals, my mother taught school and often worked other jobs to make ends meet. My parents were hardworking people with a unique blend of business savvy, dedication, personal dignity, and financial wisdom,
and having them as role models has proved to be an invaluable legacy.

So even after I felt God’s call and entered the ministry, I always worked other jobs to pay the bills. Whether it was managing the paint department at Sears, selling men’s clothing, or working the assembly line at Union Carbide, I appreciated the value of working hard in order to provide for my family as well as to underwrite my ministry. “Tent-making,” as we call it in the church, came naturally to me.

However, when I was laid off at the plant during a time of economic devastation in West Virginia, I faced a new challenge. No one was hiring. No jobs to be had. No employment opportunities within a fifty-mile radius. Becoming a full-time pastor was not an option. My ministry was still in embryonic form and unable to provide compensation; most of the time, I funded the electric bill and meager supplies for the church.

So after looking outwardly for a job, I then looked inwardly for inspiration about how to feed my family and keep us afloat. I learned that if necessity is indeed the mother of invention, then desperation is the father! I didn’t have time to ponder which career direction might be the most strategic or to contemplate the business model for a new start-up. Instead I simply relied on my default setting and considered the resources at hand, which wasn’t much, and concluded that I could start a lawn mowing service to get us by for a while. With a beat-up old truck, a few secondhand
mowers, and a couple of college kids to help me, I was in business.

My little lawn-care company never grew much or exploded into an empire, which doesn’t surprise me, because I never had any real passion for it. But it did provide a survival tool for a season, for which my family and I were most grateful. This season also taught me new lessons about myself and my instinct for survival. As tempting as it was to feel angry for being laid off or to feel like a victim of the anemic economy, I was forced to remember that I had choices and responsibilities. It wasn’t just my own well-being at stake, but my family’s. No one was going to go hungry on my watch!

Whether you’re running a tech business or a bakery, a hotel chain or your own household, you must filter adversity through your instinct to survive. When expectations don’t run according to plan, you must be willing to change course, adapt your vision, and recalculate what’s needed to survive. Every obstacle contains an opportunity. It may not be the doorway to success you were looking for—it may be a second-story window left open just a crack!

Your instincts naturally create a way forward out of whatever you have at hand. Hardship can humble you, but it cannot break you unless you let it. Your instinct for survival will see you through if you’re attuned to its frequency. Instinct will find a temporary stopgap without ever taking its sights off your larger goals. There’s no greater way to hone your instincts than
to overcome adversity. Successful leaders know that instincts transform adversity into opportunity.

As you venture into new jungles of opportunity, the people riding with you make a huge difference in your ability to move forward over rough terrain. While on my safari in South Africa, I appreciated the rugged power and sturdy frame of our carrier vehicle, a Jeep clearly designed for off-road excursions. It adapted to the muddy roads and rocky hills without slowing down. Clearly, it was built for survival under stress.

In order to survive, we must be as rugged and determined as this Jeep navigating through the jungle. We must be willing to make hard choices and accept temporary solutions. And we must also be willing to mobilize those around us to head in the same direction as our destiny. No matter how resourceful, creative, or industrious we may be, without others on our team, we will only idle on our ideas instead of gaining traction toward interaction!

If instinct is the fuel that powers your Jeep, then your team members are the tires!

I don’t care how polished the Jeep is or how much horsepower it has under the hood. It may be built for rugged hills and designed to take you on the safari of a lifetime, but if the tires aren’t filled up with air and
ready to roll, the carburetor, spark plugs, or steering wheel cannot help you move in the direction you need to go.

As we delve deeper into this subject, my supposition is that you want to maximize your journey and enhance your productivity. If all you want is the showroom floor, then wax away. But if you want to be mobile, malleable, and magnificent, then we have to get those who support the vision moving in a synchronized, unrestricted way.

So much of the journey, especially your speed and direction, depend on how you drive and the choices you make about your vehicle. This connection to your instinctive rhythm affects every area of your life, including how you interact with and lead others. I know that when I have my hands on the wheel, the buck stops with me. But the question arises: Which “me” is driving? Am I driving with personality or purpose? Am I driving with my heart or my head? I have often struggled inwardly to understand which part of me leads the way.

We’ll explore instinctive leadership styles in
chapter 14
, but for now, remember instinct requires self-awareness and risk taking. You have to know your areas of gifting and expertise while also not becoming too comfortable. A gifted athlete, performer, or executive will always stretch and extend beyond their
present capabilities, using what they’ve already accomplished as a launching pad.

Routine is the enemy of instinct. So break the mold! While it’s important to establish routines, schedules, and systems of operation, it’s just as important to know when to change them. Routines without ongoing assessment lead to stagnation and mediocrity. Most individuals, teams, and organizations rise to a challenge or fall to the familiar. It’s better to change and fail than to settle for the status quo.

Depending on your past experiences, you may have to embrace change in order to survive in each new jungle you encounter. I had routinely been geared toward retention, and then I entered a realm where turnover is not only expected but often signals growth and innovation. In short, I found that I was changing faster than the people around me.

Soon I was to find that people who had been creative at one stage of growth now seemed empty of ideas—and worse, they seemed not to notice that the ground had moved up under their feet! As I grew and encountered higher ideals and new goals, what had once been acceptable now seemed lethargic at best and lethal if ignored.

You can’t take everyone with you just because they were with you where you were before.

I felt divided. I couldn’t decide whether to obey my heart or my mind!

I had to be savvy enough to realize the rules had changed and use my instincts to see how they changed.

How do we fight the complacency and paralysis of the past? How do we ignite our instincts? Several years ago, Joseph Garlington, a highly revered theologian and speaker from Pittsburgh, came to speak for us and shared an experience he had with his grandchildren.

As a grandfather myself, I can now relate to his story. Perhaps you’ve had those moments as well, when the children or grandchildren are bored playing alone and you are trying to read, research, study, or focus on a task before you. Subconsciously you notice they are skipping around, competing for your attention but not overtly.

Running up and down the stairs, they wait to catch your eye with their little feet fastened to the next step on the staircase. Finally, you look up from what you are doing and say, “Boo!” Screams of glee erupt from their lips like water from an artesian well. You go back to what you are doing, assuming that your exclamation
of recognition will suffice. However, it is only a matter of time before you hear the tapping of happy feet again. They wait on the steps for you to look up again. And if you do not, the grandchild, weary of waiting, will exclaim, “Scare me again, Grandpa! Scare me again!”

That is what many gifted and talented people are waiting on: your instincts hunger for a task that is the equivalent to “Scare me again!” Make me study again. Challenge me with something special that will make me grow. Give me something challenging enough to make me think and work, create and develop.

I’m convinced the only way you can develop your true gifts, your creative instincts, is by embracing a vision so daunting that your heart goes running up the steps like a child, screaming with delight because you have a challenge that equals your creativity.

I
nstincts allow your internal vision to become an external reality. Often this process of actualization may involve unexpected and even unorthodox methods of discovery and application. I’ll never forget the time when I was a boy and dressed myself for a very big event our family was attending. Normally, I would’ve gotten some assistance, but I’ve always been a bit precocious, and I really didn’t think I needed help. Mother had already told me what to wear, I was a big boy, and I thought I knew what to do. So I reasoned, “I can handle this!” and proceeded to wiggle my way into my wardrobe.

Like any family with young children, of course we were running late, so I jumped in the backseat of the car, out of the view of my parents. I started to play with my siblings, which is always what the youngest
does—torment the others, rather proud of myself for getting dressed without assistance. As we giggled and laughed, clowned and cut up, I never realized that the biggest laugh of the day was ultimately about to be on me.

Shortly after we arrived and were engulfed by the crowd, I heard some other children giggling at me. They began to point, and the sniggling grew. It seems I was fully dressed in what had been laid out for me, but my shirt was inside out. It didn’t look that bad, but you know how children react to any little thing. Thoroughly humiliated in my childish embarrassment, I ran to my mother to fix the mess I made.

Now, being an adult, I fare much better at wearing my shirt the right way. Normally, I can manage to dress myself pretty well! Today’s challenge is to get the once unintentional inside-out shirt to become a model for very intentional living. You see, I have come to understand that the art of being a visionary is to get the inside vision to materialize outside. Your instincts not only give voice to your innovative visions, but they transform mistakes into a mosaic masterpiece.

So often we look to others for inspiration, approval, or affirmation of what we should do and how we should do it. But you will never achieve the fulfillment of your vision this way. My friend, you are the singularly
most effective source for outwardly manifesting all the visions, inventions, books, or businesses that are naturally part of your gifting. This explains why being copied is never an issue, since true creativity can never be synthesized.

Now, many can imitate what you do, but none can duplicate what you do if you produce outwardly what you possess inwardly. If you follow your instincts from the inside out, you emerge in a class all by yourself. You see, there is no one quite like you! You were not created to try and become the next Steve Jobs or Alice Walker or Nelson Mandela or Beyoncé!

You were created to bring something to this earth that has never crystallized throughout the eons of time. I don’t know what that is for you, and you may not have fully discovered it yet, but if you live and lead by your instincts, your rare and precious gift—one of a kind—will emerge!

So stop manufacturing synthetic ideas or letting others pull your strings, and you won’t have to fight off the competition. Put your seal, your scent, your essence, your DNA, on what you produce, and it will forever have that uniqueness. Stop copying and start discovering what is intrinsically within you.

Several years ago, I founded a festival called Megafest, an amalgamation of diverse interests of mine intersecting in one setting. My propensity for business themes and personal health merged with my
passion for faith and spirituality. The very first year, over a hundred thousand people came from all walks of life to attend the event. Multiple countries and cultures were represented, and it was an unprecedented success.

However, the indelible moment of satisfaction that still lingers with me occurred the night before Megafest opened, as I marveled at how my vision had come to life. Without formal training or much experience, my team and I received international kudos for organizing such a massive undertaking with only a few minor glitches. More important, we were able to motivate, inspire, entertain, and invigorate a diverse body of people, encouraging and challenging them to enjoy the contentment that comes from living in the bull’s-eye of their life’s God-given goals. Through that first Megafest, I gained an even greater appreciation for what it means to actualize your instincts and live from the inside out.

Before you build a team, open a ministry, start a business, launch a concept, or develop a plan, you must begin to inventory what’s on the inside of you. There is some powerful potion that’s inherent in people who produce outwardly what is theirs. No, I didn’t ask you what you could afford or what you studied
at the university or seminary. I’m merely asking you to understand that instincts begin with inclinations that you may not have acted upon but should at least explore.

Just as it’s possible to have never been exposed to a pool but be gifted as a swimmer, you may not have discovered your arena of greatness yet. Most creative, instinctive people ignite their passion by being exposed—sometimes even in the middle of their lives—to new ideas, other people, unusual positions, and unknown careers that they may not have encountered in their upbringing or normal environment. And yet they find themselves innately drawn to the beauty of a work of art, the brilliance of a new app, or the insight of fresh voices.

Scripture tells us that deep calls out to deep, and I’m convinced that those people, places, and perspectives that resonate with us often do so because of a shared, kindred quality. When something you encounter resonates with you, pay attention. Become a student of your deepest passions and most persistent curiosities. Notice the people you admire and feel drawn to emulate. We instinctively recognize members of our own tribe, no matter how different they may look!

Just because the goose lays eggs on land doesn’t negate the fact that her offspring are drawn to the water. And the so-called ugly duckling often realizes they are really a swan in disguise! Can you go past
where you started to discover what you could be? Listen to your instincts and you will find your power.

Our greatest power doesn’t always emerge from our experiences, not even from our most intense ones. There’s incredible hidden treasure locked up in your instincts that may not always show on your résumé. If you can spend some time with yourself, you may be on the verge of the most powerful part of your life, discovering what’s inside that your instincts want to express outside.

Think about what you gravitate toward when given time to relax and recharge. Are you always watching cooking shows on the Food Network, tinkering with recipes to make them your own? Maybe you’re exploring new apps, thinking about the ones you wish existed that you can’t find. Do you find yourself perusing history books and travel brochures about a foreign land or culture that captivates you? Are you drawn to the latest leadership training course that’s coming to town?

Paying attention to what nourishes and stimulates your heart, soul, and imagination leads to listening to your instincts. In turn, listening to your instincts jump-starts the process of creating the fabric of your destiny. Like a designer sewing a garment, you take the vision within you and bring it to life in a suit to be worn for your next season of life. You are instinctively best at inventing what is in your inventory!

When you follow your instincts and transform your vision into reality, you will discover that accidents, mistakes, and conflicts become creative material. Rarely do you have everything you think you need in order to succeed. Living by instinct allows you to adapt to change and grow stronger. Instinct often processes, learns, and accepts change before we do. Once our emotions, intentions, and abilities catch up, we move forward, one step closer to seeing our dreams realized.

This idea began as a hypothesis in me and was affirmed as I deepened my research and discovered some compelling studies on the subjects of creativity and innovation. I’ve always believed that we are an extremely adaptable species. Our country’s development reveals this adaptability in our founders’ tenacious pursuit of creating a powerful new nation even amid the uncharted wilderness of a brand-new frontier—or at least it was new to them.

My ancestors modeled the concept of instinctive adaptability when they were snatched from their motherland and had to adapt to a world that was not only brutal but totally unfamiliar—new language, new faith, new foods, new customs, and new rules of engagement. I don’t know how they survived such a
hostile takeover of their heritage and culture. But they survived and adapted and endured.

I can see it in my own life as I have survived many changes of my worldview, catastrophic economic and health challenges, losses, disappointments, and moments of intense anguish. I have survived the magnanimous moments of intense accomplishments that catapulted me into strange new arenas for which I had no grooming or preparation. Trust me, both success and struggle are different kinds of trauma.

But at my core, I have always been a survivor. And though I may react to the trauma emotionally, shed private tears, have a meltdown away from people, or enjoy a complete “one flew over the cuckoo’s nest” episode, when I’m finished expressing emotion I keep on keeping on. When I finish my rant, tantrum, or moment of grief, I move into the instinctive survival mode that has empowered humans to endure plights and pleasures of all kinds. Change is often as painful for me to endure as it is for anyone else, but I have learned to take the bitter with the sweet and keep on moving forward.

Everything I have been able to accomplish and most of the exceptional accomplishments of others I’ve witnessed result from something that’s hardwired into our cores. Some download better than others, but I believe all of us have more talents stocked in our inventory than life’s demands have required from us. It could be that oppositions and opportunities alike
challenge us to draw from our inventory that which we might’ve been oblivious to otherwise. Think of how many things you had in you that required a challenge or a change to help you discover, utilize, and embrace.

As I’ve researched adaptability, I’ve discovered some critical information on what I see as a pattern. Science teaches us that the role of instincts in determining behavior of animals varies from species to species. It appears that the more complex the neural system of the animal, the less that species is inclined to rely on instincts.

Generally, from a biological perspective, the greater the role of the cerebral cortex—which draws on sociological constructs for learning—the less instinctive the creature becomes. Both its defenses and needs are accomplished by its supreme ability to deduce and decide. It doesn’t have to rely on instincts, because of its biological neural system. It isn’t that the instincts aren’t there. They are simply not the primary resource for rescue and resiliency.

With this in mind, I wonder if this in fact describes what has happened with us as we react to life in the twenty-first century. Some people live and lead from their instincts, but most of us rely on intellect, social conditioning, and logic. Myriad voices scream at us
daily from every source imaginable, and we sadly become deafened to the whispers of our own instincts.

Perhaps in a perfect world working with someone fully engaged with both would be a dream. They would regard facts but not ignore feelings, either. They could censor data meticulously but also have creative instincts capable of overriding what may seem logical on paper but impractical in execution.

This is the opiate of advancement. It liberates the soul to escape the obvious when need be and break beyond the historical orthodoxy of the previously held ideology. Through this union of timely information and the creative impulse of the instinct, we forge ahead into new excursions of ideas!

Yes, we all have instincts, intuition, and internal discernment. However, some never allow the activation of what is on the inside. Some people maintain that our intellects should eclipse our instincts. They have even suggested that the more cerebral we are, the less we benefit from relying on instincts. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Sometimes we’ve deadened the nerve endings of our instincts by indulging in the luxury of deciding by the numbers and living in the books instead of creating in the crosshairs of crisis. We don’t use what we think we don’t need. And as long as what we have been taught provides for us, why would we look deeper to unleash the many other gifts that are intrinsically stocked within all of us?

Recently I toured Nike headquarters, and one of the displays had a tennis shoe stuck in a waffle iron. The company’s cofounder, Phil Knight, had partnered with a guy named Bill Bowerman, and they each contributed $500 to start the company! In the early years of the company, Bowerman was inspired by a waffle iron to develop a sole for better running, with less weight and more traction. Who could’ve imagined that a waffle-iron-inspired running shoe would become an iconic, international brand? How’s that for out of the box!