Why threshold crossings need to be hard

The precessional effect of an instant gratification world is the reflexive allergy to doing the hard work, often over hours, months, years, decades, to be able to suddenly produce something that moves people. 

People want to be part of something instantly. Fill in personal details and voila, you are on the team.

We watch someone pick up a musical instrument and play exquisitely, forgetting the decades of practice, the decades of investment, the struggles, breakdowns and triumphs that preceded genius.

We want to learn to do something, but not at the cost of digging deep into our reserves effort.

We want the grand relationship but without the work of cleaning out our own interiors of all the contamination accumulated.

We want the body, but would rather pay to be lifted, enhanced, injected…than to change our diet, exercise, and thinking.

When someone says to me that the work of crossing the threshold of becoming part of our team at Syntropic World is too hard, what they are really saying is give me the bonus without my genuine commitment. 

Threshold crossing needs to be hard. The crossing is always a sovereign choice. You must want to dig deep, risk, give above and beyond self. The bigger the purpose, the more the crossing needs to be challenged.

The illusion is that the crossing is free-(without cost), or easy. 

The requirement of what is needed to cross the threshold should be clearly stated and unambiguous from the beginning. It should also allow for diversity and novelty. 

The journey across is where we get thrown into our crucible, burning away all that is not relevant to what we find on the other side. Not the hero’s journey, which is an archetype that needs to be retired. But that of the apprentice, journeyman, master. Spiralling. Evolutionary, maturing, refining. 

This is true for all enduring relationships, business partnerships, teams. If we want to build a Cathedral, to create something beautiful, filled with genius, to become a master, to write simple words that stop the world, we need to put in the work. 

The easy road constantly chosen is like empty calories. Substandard fuel for a partially lived life.

To build an enterprise as a Cathedral, ensure your threshold crossing asks those who truly want to be a part of what you are stewarding to demonstrate this as they cross.

Photo taken July 27th, 2020