Building a Movement
Why build a movement?
A handful of others and I started a movement that eventually became Taskforce Pineapple, a group committed to honoring our promise to our Afghan allies. Initially, we did it to save an Afghan commando code-named Space Monkey. Once he was rescued, this small group of people looked at each other and asked, what now? Do we fold the tent?
Closing shop seemed like a good idea because I have a business to run, and my team was struggling. But I looked at my brothers and sisters from the Special Operations community and all these amazing volunteers who were trying to save these people, and we thought, let's go bigger.
We used a consolidated chat room to talk about where the opportunities were at the airfield gates, then the shepherds would move their flocks accordingly. We were able to rescue thousands of people because they trusted us. And we are still trying to move people now even as the Taliban are actively hunting and killing them
I knew the second that those Afghans made it inside the wire that this was a movement. The only way that could've happened is if a group of veterans stepped into the breach and started connecting with their brothers and sisters in Afghanistan. The only way this could have worked is if a brave congressional staffer walked the halls of Congress trying to get someone to pay attention and open the gates. It could only have happened if a reporter was willing to put everything on the line to save one friend.
There has been resistance from the Special Operations community, and the State Department has threatened investigations. I'm honestly scared. A lot of the people in this thing are scared. This is far bigger than anything we've ever dealt with. But the opposite of fear, according to Steven Pressfield, it's not courage; it's love. I couldn’t agree more. It's love of my friends in Afghanistan, my brothers from the Special Operations community, and my family. It's love for all of you to be able to share what I'm experiencing so that you might learn from it and repurpose it for your life.
We need leaders who will bring us back from the cliff, but, if you're going to create a movement, you're going to have to take criticism. You're going to lose friends. People will try to pull you down, but that’s the perfect indicator that you're on the right track.
If you're stuck with your movement right now, first get clear on what you're building. We have to be able to tell the story of where we've been, where we are, and where we're going. When we are building a movement, we must be storytellers. We must always reattune to the environment and the people around us and use purposeful storytelling in real-time to meet our goals.
Next, clarify what it's going to cost you. If you're creating a movement, you better think about what it's going to cost, because it is going to cost. It could be lost revenue, lost time with your family, or even losing friends. I have to be ready to lose my entire reputation in the media because it could turn south tomorrow. When we build movements bigger than us, the cost is what we must bear.
Once you figure that out, it's important to have conversations with the people at your shoulder that this cost is going to affect. It's not just you. It's going to affect your family, your business partner, and the people who deal with you. Ask them, what's it going to cost you to work with me? If you can convey what you're building through narrative, most of the people you have the conversations with are going to help you build it.
Finally, I think it's imperative to employ regimen, ritual, rigor, and recovery in every aspect of your day. For me, that’s getting up in the morning, doing breathing exercises, doing pushups, saying my prayers, drinking water, warming up my voice, and doing a workout. These rituals address mind, body, and spirit. Applying them with serious focus is what gives you resilience. Do them every day, no matter where you are. These are non-negotiable.
Make sure you also do recoveries every day. One of the quickest ways to burn out is skipping recovery. Micro recoveries are little things to wind down, like diaphragmatic breathing or meditation. Macro recoveries are things like weekends with the family or vacations.
Building a movement is one of the greatest things we can do in life. It's the way that we leave our tracks, those indelible impressions in the world, that don't just affect the people around us, they affect the people who follow us.