Your Gold Is Already There
Innovating Yourself is Prospecting, Not Alchemy
The Alchemist
There’s an alchemist in all of us.
An obsessive, sleep-deprived chemist lives in you, wrangling beakers of noxious chemicals alone in a basement lab, trying hard not to blow things up, certain that gold will appear sometime soon.
Classical alchemists obsess over transforming lead into gold. The rest of us obsess over transforming ourselves into someone or something else in order to win.
It goes back to the old playbook. The playbook we grew up with. The playbook from school, work, and business in general. That playbook.
It says: “Make something of yourself.”
That statement sounds aspirational, even noble. But also implies that you aren’t enough.
The system is designed to deploy you, not develop you. Alignment with your natural strengths is seldom considered. Trying to make something of yourself can trap you in a perpetual state of “less than”.
The starting point for alchemists is that the gold must be created, since it isn’t there in the first place. Alchemy is hard, and the work never ends.
The starting point for the rest of us, according to our old playbook, is that in order to win, we must make something of ourselves first.
But alchemy isn’t all there is. There is another way.
The Prospector
As the alchemist labors in his secret lab, someone else is making his way through the meadows down to the mountain stream. He has a copper pan and a sharp eye.
He’s a prospector.
Unlike the alchemist, he’s not trying to transform anything, because he is certain that the gold is already there.
His eyes are trained to look for the signs. How the water flows, the shape of the rock formations, and the mounds of pebbles, sand, and mud.
His starting point isn’t the lack of gold. For him, every day is an opportunity, because he knows the gold is already there.
We all share the alchemist’s mindset. It’s been trained into us.
You can live like the alchemist or the prospector.
There are two playbooks, and you can learn to use either one.
The MVP Playbook stands for Mindset, Volition, and Process.
It says: “Be who you are.”
“Success in the knowledge economy comes to those who know themselves—their strengths, their values, and how they best perform.”
— Peter Drucker
Your gold is more than money, although that’s part of it.
Your gold includes your natural strengths, your judgment, and your creative energy.
You don’t need to reinvent yourself. You need to be who you already are.
Client Zero
I’m client zero. I built it, and they didn’t come.
The first version of my innovation framework was designed for businesses, organizations, and teams.
They said that they were intrigued, and acted politely interested, yet I found that they had already invested heavily in old playbook solutions.
Then I found that individuals resonated with my work.
Same principles, different focus.
Then the big pivot became personal. I needed to innovate myself.
That was ten years ago. I’m client zero. Everything I teach is for ten-years-ago Ken.
One day, listening to podcasts while freelancing, I heard Kathy Kolbe describe how she had come to develop her unique assessment for innate volitional strengths.
“When you work in your natural style, you are more productive, more comfortable and more successful.”
— Kolbe Wisdom ™
I came to discover that I already had everything I needed. I didn’t need to become someone else in order to win.
That personal revelation was so impactful that I decided to become a Kolbe Certified Consultant. I didn’t do it to make something of myself. I did it because it naturally flowed from who I am.
Something to think about…
How have you been using the old playbook without realizing it?
How have you been more like the alchemist than the prospector?
What could change if you focused on the natural strengths you already have?