Every once in a while I read a book that demands a response. Every once in a while, I read a book and find myself talking about it with everyone. And, every once in a while, I read a book that YOU MUST READ. That is The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt.
The Anxious Generation is an alarm sounding for all parents, schools, tech companies, and governments as to why teen mental illness cases are skyrocketing, how social media is downright dangerous to girls, and how boys are lulled into the virtual world and fail to launch into the real world resulting in disastrous consequences. Through research, Haidt outlines how a “phone-based childhood” has replaced the “play-based childhood”, leading to a “great rewiring of childhood” that fails miserably to prepare our kids for adulthood. However, after all of the doom and gloom, he offers clear calls to action for parents, teachers, schools, tech companies, and governments. It’s an all-skate.
If you are a parent, teacher, or even just love a child, I strongly encourage you to read this book. While this book isn’t faith-based (Haidt actually claims to be atheist), much of his research and his conclusions align with what Scripture says about relationships, family, education, and responsibilities. I don’t know that I’ve ever read a book that convicted me so strongly for the ways I’ve ignorantly and foolishly interacted with technology like smartphones, social media, and the internet; and, inspired me to make drastic changes in my home like leaving my phone face down with notifications turned off…except for when it rings because a friend or family member is actually calling. Doom scrolling has to stop.
Anyway, I hope you’ll find a copy of The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt. You’ll be glad you did.
I’m in the middle of the book Our Better Angels right now by Jonathan Reckford, who is the CEO of Habitat for Humanity; and, I can’t stop thinking about its potential impact on our community, state, and world. I first heard of Jonathan and his book on the Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast where he and Andy discussed 7 Virtues that Jonathan and Habitat for Humanity have adopted and embodied.
These Virtues are:
Kindness
Community
Empowerment
Joy
Respect
Generosity
Service
I had the opportunty to help build 3 Habitat homes in college with my fraternity brothers. I’m not sure when Habitat adopted these virtues. But, as I read this book and think back on those experiences of helping aspiring homeowners build their own homes, I get excited. As a County Commissioner in Irwin County, I get excited thinking about what we all can also accomplish and become if we choose to come together in kindness, care for each other in community, empower each other to become all that God intends for us, choose and live out joy even when it’s tough, respect each other fully, generously give, and serve with humility from the top down.
Check out the podcast and book. If you ever have the chance to serve with Habitat, DO IT! If you ever have the chance to go overseas and serve, TAKE IT! You’ll be glad you did.
I love the Thanksgiving to Christmas to New Year holiday season. We express gratitude for all God has blessed us with, then we celebrate the birth of Jesus our Saviour, and then we have a week to reflect and plan the next year. Unfortunately, it’s easy to slip into this scenario…
Let me encourage you with a new plan for the New Year.
I consume almost everything that Michael Hyatt publishes. His wisdom, humor, and relatability are a breath of fresh air. Years ago, I discovered his Life Plan template and tried it out. I haven’t missed a New Year’s Eve or Day since where I don’t use his template to plan my next year. Check out the template here and take some time soon to make your own Life Plan.
I also love this time so that I can think through the upcoming year for my company. During the fall of 2020, I wrote about my company’s mission, vision, values, & brand commitment. Check it out here. Below is our updated purpose, mission, vision, and brand commitment as we head into 2022!
Mission: We make life better with the things we grow and for the people we get to know.
Purpose: MPC exists to…
honor God
serve others
pursue excellence, and
grow profitably.
Vision:
MPC will be THE first and last call when people think of muscadine products from juice to powder to extract to wine.
MPC will be THE source of genuine, healthy, and natural products for people hoping to live a genuine, healthy, and natural life.
MPC will be THE custom processor of choice for regionally grown and sourced ingredients.
Values: We are & strive to be…
Honest: Choosing to be truthful in whatever you say & do. Telling the truth even when it hurts because not telling truth undermines the relationship.
Humble: Putting others first by giving up what you think you deserve.
Hungry: (initiative): Seeing what needs to be done & doing it. Make it Better! Looking for good to do!
Smart (wisdom): Finding out what you need to do & doing it. Make it Better: there’s always a way to make things better.
Take it Personally: treat it like it’s yours because to the customer, it is personal.
Collaborate with Others: we’re better together.
Replace Ourselves: none of us will do what we’re doing here forever.
Remain Open Handed: it’s ultimately not ours to hold onto.
Trusting: Putting your confidence in someone you can depend on. Being someone others can depend on.
Generous: Making someone’s day by giving something away.
Kind: Showing others that are valuable by how you treat them.
Disciplined: Doing what you need to do now so you can be better later.
Persevering: Refusing to give up when life gets hard. Finish the job!
Resilient: Getting back up when knocked down because finishing the task at hand matters.
Curious: Seeking to understand the world & people around us because they are fascinating. Seeking to discover something new so you can be better at whatever you do.
Creative: Using your imagination to do something that makes someone’s day, makes a difference or solves a problem worth solving.
Responsible: Proving you can be trusted with what is expected of you. Taking care of what you have because it all belongs to God anyway.
Conscientious: Details matter…from the parking lot to the paperwork and from the bins to the bottles. It ALL matters.
Knowledge: Discovering something new so you can be better at whatever you do.
Resourceful: Leveraging what’s at hand to overcome.
Brand Commitment: We help you celebrate the best things in life.
So, there you have it. If you work here and wonder, “Why are we doing this task?”, what you are doing should fit within this context.
If you visit us or partner with us, my goal is that you consider yourself better for having interacted with us. And, you should see these values play out through your interaction with our team.
Bottom Line:
Carve out some time to reflect and plan. You’ll be glad you did….there’s lots to anticipate!
Over the past year, we’ve brought on several new team members and expanded the scope of our business well beyond just squeezing muscadine juice and the four walls of our building. Originally we only pressed and bottled muscadine juice. Today, MPC offers a number of ingredients and services around the world, and Paulk Vineyards sells juices, jellies, and wine throughout the country. Because of all that’s going on, I was recently reminded that I need to define and remind everyone what we’re all about. I figured my blog will be as good a place as any so that you can also check out other things I’ve written to better understand what we and I am all about.
Without any further adieu, here is Muscadine Products Corporation’s Mission, Vision, Values, & Brand Commitment:
Mission: MPC exists to…
honor God
serve others
pursue excellence, and
grow profitably.
Vision:
MPC will be THE first and last call when people think of muscadine products from juice to powder to extract to wine.
MPC will be THE source of genuine, healthy, and natural products for people hoping to live a genuine, healthy, and natural life.
MPC will be THE custom processor of choice for regionally grown and sourced ingredients.
Values: We are & strive to be…
Honest: Choosing to be truthful in whatever you say & do. Telling the truth even when it hurts because not telling truth undermines the relationship.
Trusting: Putting your confidence in someone you can depend on. Being someone others can depend on.
Humble: Putting others first by giving up what you think you deserve.
Generous: Making someone’s day by giving something away.
Kind: Showing others that are valuable by how you treat them.
Hungry: (initiative): Seeing what needs to be done & doing it. Make it Better! Looking for good to do!
Disciplined: Doing what you need to do now so you can be better later.
Persevering: Refusing to give up when life gets hard. Finish the job!
Resilient: Getting back up when knocked down because finishing the task at hand matters.
Smart (wisdom): Finding out what you need to do & doing it.
Make it Better: there’s always a way to make things better.
Take it Personally: treat it like it’s yours because to the customer, it is personal.
Collaborate with Others: we’re better together.
Replace Ourselves: none of us will do what we’re doing here forever.
Remain Open Handed: it’s ultimately not ours to hold onto.
Curious: Seeking to understand the world & people around us because they are fascinating. Seeking to discover something new so you can be better at whatever you do.
Creative: Using your imagination to do something that makes someone’s day, makes a difference, or solves a problem worth solving.
Responsible: Proving you can be trusted with what is expected of you. Taking care of what you have because it all belongs to God anyway.
Conscientious: Details matter…from the parking lot to the paper work and from the bins to the bottles. It ALL matters.
Knowledge: Discovering something new so you can be better at whatever you do.
Resourceful: Leveraging what’s at hand to overcome.
Brand Commitment: We add value to the things we grow and the people we get to know.
So, there you have it. If you work here and wonder, “Why are we doing this task?”, what you are doing should fit within this context.
If you visit us or partner with us, my goal is that you consider yourself better for having interacted with us. And, you should see these values play out through your interaction with our team.
I’d love to get your thoughts, too. What are you all about?
A few years ago, I identified the values that I want everyone working with me to embody. These are descriptive values and not purely aspirational values. In other words, to work with our company, you need to be living out these qualities already and not aspiring to live them out. Those values are Humble, Hungry, Honest, and Smart.
Fast forward a couple of years, and Michael Hyatt wrote a blog post about them…thanks Mike! Then, even better, Patrick Lencioni wrote a book about three of these values entitled, The Ideal Team Player. Check out both resources…they are really good reads!
Again, for me and my team, we will be Humble, Hungry, Honest, and Smart. We will be Humble in our words and actions, putting others first by giving up what we think we deserve. We will be Hungry, self motivated to get things done. We will be Honest in whatever we say and do, even when it hurts. And, we will be Smart, showing common sense as we work with others.
Now, I challenge you to also identify the qualities of people you want to work with and then start living out those qualities. Be the person you want to work with is working with. We can all use a little more empathy and compassion these days.
I’m curious, what 2-4 characteristics (from this list or otherwise) do you value most and live by?
I recently spoke at my Rotary International District 6920 Annual Conference. Our District Governor, Hamsa Thota, is encouraging each of our local clubs to begin a mentorship program…and specifically, to encourage agri-business entrepreneurship. He was looking for a story to encourage current Rotarians to mentor students and young adults…and I have just the story.
During my senior year of high school Mrs. Linda Roberts, my math teacher (and, best teacher of all time!) encouraged us to find a PAL. These were Partners in Action for Learning…I think. This could be anyone with a job we wanted to do to someone we thought was cool. I chose Dr. Robert Hingson. Dr. Hingson and his wife, Toby, retired to Ocilla from Pittsburgh, PA.After they retired here, Dr. Hingson and my grandfather became friends through our Ocilla Rotary Club. I remember going to dinners with them as a child. And, I thought he had an interesting story. As it turns out, he lived an incredible life that I was fortunate to learn about my senior year of high school.
Chris & Mrs. Roberts
Dr. Hingson was a retired anesthesiologist, Dr. Hingson was also a professor, inventor, and humanitarian. He spoke at the Rotary International Convention in 1978 as the keynote speaker. He traveled around the globe helping immunize people using technology that he invented. And, he retired to Ocilla! And, as most people do, they had a connection. Mrs. Toby’s grandfather built the home some years prior, using the same bricks used to build our county’s courthouse. How cool is that?!
As we finish another school year, I think about Mrs. Roberts, who was one of the most influential teachers in my life…and, who continues to brighten everyone’s day whom she encounters. And, I think about the tremendous impact Dr. Hingson had on the direction of my life. As he mentored me, I gained a vision of how I can use my talents and resources to benefit others around the world. I’m very grateful for Mrs. Roberts’ mentorship in my life and her leadership as she encouraged us to seek out a mentor. And, I’m grateful for Dr. Hingson, who simply shared his time and stories with me.
May we all follow their examples and share our time and resources with those behind and around us.
I recently read one of the most encouraging, powerful, and yet, self-evident, books. The Power of the Other by Dr. Henry Cloud is the great reminder that our culture has, yet again, misguided us. Especially here in the United States, we value independence. We celebrate people who appear to succeed on their own. We aren’t, however, told the entire story.
What you know instinctively, though, is that your best and worst seasons in life weren’t entirely about the market or your skills. Your best and worst seasons were also about who was with you. For better or worse, your friends and family were playing a large part in the results of those seasons and whom you were becoming. I know that my greatest accomplishments and challenges overcome have been, and will be, in close relationship with others.
In his book, Dr. Cloud identifies four approaches, or corners, to connection. In order for you to truly succeed in life, we need to intentionally avoid the first three corners and seek out the fourth corner. His four corners are:
Disconnected, No Connection – I see this corner often in men who say, “I can pull myself up by my bootstraps. I’ve got this!” Or, you might be new to a town or job. Instead of seeking true connection, you maintain your independence, further isolating yourself.
The Bad Connection – Because we are all made for connection, you might find yourself connected to a person who makes you feel inferior, guilty, or something is wrong with you.
The Pseudo-Good Connection – Where Corner Two connections leave you feeling bad, Corner Three connections make you feel good. That can’t be a bad thing, can it? You just might find yourself surrounded by people who only tell you what you want to hear. Remember The Emperor’s New Clothes?
True Connection – This is the corner where you want the best for others, and others want the best for you. As Dr. Cloud puts it, Corner Four connections, much like a Navy SEAL parachuting into hostile territory, ask themselves and seek the answers to three questions:
Where am I?
Where is the enemy?
Where is my buddy?
You can recognize these Corners in just about every aspect of life. And, I believe we will do ourselves and our loved ones well to seek out and cultivate true connection with a handful of people…people who will help us arrive at a better destination.
Question: How has a healthy relationship helped you achieve greatness or overcome a challenge?
Six weeks ago, the world lost one of the most amazing men to ever live. In case you haven’t heard, my grandfather, Jacob Paulk, went to his Heavenly home on February 24, 2017. Our family has obviously missed him dearly. And, the farm has experienced quite a transition, also. Papa Jacob left large shoes to fill, and I am humbled to carry on part of his legacy. I wrote about his influence in my life and our business in last month’s newsletter. Please check it out here.
One thing I’ve concluded that Papa Jacob did better than anything else was taking care of business. Personally, he took care of himself, his health, his relationship with God, and his relationships with friends and family with great intention. Professionally, he took care of his business every day with great focus on the smallest details and the broadest vision.
I’ve concluded that my mission in life is to take care of all God has entrusted to me…much like Papa Jacob took care of all God entrusted to him. I encourage you to also take care of all that has been entrusted to your care: your time, your health, your job, your family, your friendships.
Question: What are the most important things you take care of?
