Reconnecting with our Roots

The past is your best friend. Don’t forget it. Use it!

Sometimes with the hustle and bustle all around us we forget our roots. We forget what made us who we are. It is easy to get distracted and fall into the trap of compromising your own beliefs in order to be the best. But it is always important to remember your true self.

Just as individuals can lose a sense of who they are, companies can do the same. A taste of success can make them greedy for more, and more and more. Until what they become is far from whom they wanted to be.

Sometimes in order to understand what is best for you, your past can be the best link. This is not meant to trigger unwanted feelings from the past, but to remind you of the lessons learned. For individuals, that means what you were like as a child; when innocence remained and you were free from pressures and responsibilities.

- What were things that you always loved doing and things that made you feel the most alive?

- What was your hardest moment and what did you learn from it?

- What made you feel like YOU without compromise?

Once you answer these questions take value in the lessons they carry, and always try to do the things that make you feel alive.

For companies, it is looking back at the founders, looking for the reasons as to why they created the company in the first place. For inventors such as Henry Ford, it was to create a car that would change the world. For individuals like Sam Walton (the creator of Wal-Mart) it was about connecting with people and helping those that were not well off by providing them with affordable goods.

Some of the companies that we see today have drifted very far from the image that they once held. It is because somewhere along the road, their purpose was ignored. The founder of Wal-Mart would be disturbed by stories of constant protests by the employees and the general mistreatment of staff. This was not the Wal-Mart that he had envisioned.

A purpose must be strong enough to last through generations. Written in stone and followed by all. Is your company still in line with its original purpose?

If you feel that somehow things are no longer adding up, and things seem to be spiraling downwards, maybe the best solution is to not opt for big changes, magic fixes or major cutbacks. Maybe, just maybe, the best answer is to re-visit your past and re-discover why you were here and what made you, YOU.

So the only thing left to ask is: What does your history tell you about YOU? How can you reconnect with the original YOU?