What Would You Die For?

It was Monday lunch time so why would a bunch of hairy old hippies in bad trousers who insisted on ending every sentence with “man”, lead me to ponder the deep question “what would I die for”?

I went to see the movie “The Boat That Rocked” and after being immersed in lashings of humour, great rock and roll music and the inevitable over indulgence in every transgression on offer in the 60’s, I ended up in a deep and meaningful moment asking myself “what would I die for”.

As is often the case with comedy, through all the joviality I was moved to tears as the story progressively rocked toward some moments of truth.

Set in the mid 60’s the story is based on a bunch of rebellious DJ’s who had been banned by the authorities from playing rock and roll music from land based studios.

With everything SO accessible today, this situation seems ludicrous. But yes back in the 60’s the only place for British teenagers to hear rock and roll on their transistor radios or “trannies” (the 60’s equivalent of an i-pod not a Rocky Horror cast member) was to tune into the legendary pirate radio stations anchored in the freezing cold waters of the North Sea. At best floating rust buckets and worst case death traps bouncing about in appalling weather conditions, the colourful crew happily rocked on and raised their finger at the straight-laced government authorities who were constantly battling to take them off air.

As the movie progressed I realised I “knew” all the characters. I had worked with every single one of them when in the 70’s I played in a glitter band in the only licensed nightclub in the bottom half of New Zealand’s North Island. They had different names and faces of course but their personalities and souls were identical.

Not wishing to give away too much of the plot the government eventually legislate them out of existence and it’s a bit like the synopsis of the Titanic story – “the boat sinks”. But when it came time to be taken back to the safety and legitimacy of the shore, the DJ’s refused to budge. They kept working although they were now breaking the law and risked jail terms in doing so. When the boat started taking on water instead of heading for safety, they continued to broadcast – knee deep, then waist deep in water. They were prepared to go down with the ship, just like the musicians on the Titanic did.

I know it was fiction but because I “knew” these people so well, I understood that all those years ago I would have done exactly the same thing. Without a thought for my own personal safety, the passion I had for my work would have kept me playing. My band would have been the same, as would the motley bunch of bouncers, bar workers and floor staff that populated that seedy, sin infested night club in the 70’s. We had a common vision and a common goal, to create the best possible experience for our patrons. With a community that strong, anything becomes possible.

On the way home I became quite sad as I pondered my current position. I work in a field that is similar to rock and roll; our industry has many similarities. It is not conventional, we have alternate views to the mainstream, there is heavy opposition from places of power and therapists and musicians have the same morbid fascination with bodily function. But the most important comparison is that our product or output comes directly from the soul.

So why isn’t our industry more cohesive?

• Why are most therapists governed by fear - the fear of promoting their businesses’; fear of being seen as pushy or aggressive or showing off if they “toot their own horn”.
  
• Why is money such a taboo subject?
  
• Why is success thought so shameful by so many?
  
• Why are so many “waiting for a sign” or permission from some external source to help all the people who are injured, suffering, unwell or needing positive guidance – is the current state of the world not enough of a “sign” we are needed?
  
• Why do other therapists judge and label those who do become or even seek to become successful as “selling out to commercialism”?

Then I asked myself “am I selling out” and would I die for my work?

As the passion grew within me I realised I would still die for my job. I would face a death sentence if someone tried to stop me speaking my truth, which is that everyone in the personal development and natural therapy industry deserves massive success in whatever doses are right for them.

Would I break the law? When I thought about it – I already am. I have dedicated so much to have the freedom of my own business that some things have been left by the wayside, unattended. Not through conscious decision but from being so poor I couldn’t do anything but ignore my taxes and the mounting levels of debt and I had no choice but to trust the funds would eventually come to sort it out. I just kept going and still deal daily with the chaos I have banked up over the past seven years.

I know what it’s like to go to the edge and jump off and not fly. I know how it feels when you hit rock bottom with a crash. I work way more than I “should”. I’ve endured serial aloneness. I know the discomfort of overcoming my fears and my deepest demons. I know what it’s like to bomb in front of an audience and I’ve felt defeat more than once. But I realised I won’t stop until I’ve nailed this thing called a “dream” because like so many of you, it’s my soul purpose to help people positively.

I’m not telling you this to have you feel sorry for me, please celebrate with me because my work now gives me so much joy and fulfilment and the rewards I receive now far out weigh anything I have to “fix” now.

Why I tell you this is so you won’t give up if you are feeling like a looser if things aren’t working out like you thought they “should” or if others are making you feel less than adequate,

You have the divine right to build whatever is right for you, but it takes courage and strength and I wouldn’t have got this far without the support and love of my mentors and investment in my business knowledge.

I’m certainly not endorsing you doing anything stupid or risky but if you read the bio of your favourite author or seminar leader, they will have a story of hardship. They will have slept in cars, gone through relationship breakups; most have been bankrupt or close to death more than once. But they believed and they kept going because their desire to achieve became greater than their fear.

Like our DJ heroes, the people who achieve their dreams are the ones who over come their fear and just kept rolling the message out.

A successful business equates to freedom. At the end of the day I always give thanks for the blessing of freedom to live my life the way I choose. Would I die for the gift? YES!

Things for you to ponder?

1. How can we as an industry embrace the same rock and roll passion that kept the musicians on the Titanic playing as the boat sunk and create a common vision and a common goal?
   
2. Would you die for your current job?
   
3. If not, what would you need to do to create a job to die for?