There is a whole Tribe of people who are burnt out, tired, and overwhelmed. Having found their success, those in Tribe Three carry on day after day, month in and month out sustaining and maintaining the success they worked so hard to find.

Now, don't get me wrong, success must be found. It must be experienced. We must be deeply know what we bring to the table, and bring it we must. What we miss, or have never been taught, is that the success we find in the 'I am Great' tribe, is meant to be carried over to a land that is far richer than Tribe three land.

Let me give some background information. A landmark book entitled Tribal Leadership delineates the language and consequently the experiences and realities even of people as they go through life. From Tribe One to Five we find a succinct break-down of how people experience life, all told and attested to from their own mouths, the words they use when describing life.

If you talk about how busy you are, how you never have enough time and how tired you are then you are smack-dab in Tribe Three.

If you feel you must give permission and consensus for anything and everything, then you are in Tribe Three. Conversely, if you are waiting for permission, you are in Tribe Three.

If you are consumed with what you are doing, you are in Tribe Three.

If you calculate every decision and move that you make, ensuring to never take on too much, if you talk about balance, and warn others from over-doing it and burning out, you are in Tribe Three.

What cannot be seen, when one is in Tribe Three, is that there is a whole other land called Tribe Four. In Tribe Four things like time don't really matter, no one is waiting on or giving permission (it's not even on the radar), and balance doesn't matter because passion is the fuel.

Tribe Four has no burn-out and there is no exhaustion other than that great kind of exhaustion after a good work-out or a fabulous run. Tribe Four we do less and make more impact. We influence by the power of who we are and by the power of collaboration with others who are influencing by the power of who they are.

Accomplishing more, doing less. This is the landscape of Tribe Four.

Now I've written of these tribes before, you can check out a couple of them here, and here.

Today I write a bit more about crossing over from Tribe Three to Tribe Four.

I've realized that simply put, it requires heart, will and risk.

Fact is, when we are in Tribe Three, we cannot see, let alone imagine Tribe Four. And if you are in Tribe Three you would have been reading this with no comprehension of what I am talking about. I understand. Been there, done that.

The wall between Tribe Three and Tribe Four is so large, so high, so deep, so impenetrable that it takes a gargantuan shift in our beings to risk scaling it.

That risk, comes down to heart and will.

What are we passionate enough about to go after heart and soul? What stirs us so much that we throw all caution to the wind and pour our lives out?

It is similar to the story of the Secret Garden. Sick and dying we would rather lie-abed than take some effort to go after life.

We find our successes in Tribe Three and there we camp. Never realizing that those successes are meant for a much larger garden, a much larger landscape, a much larger world.

Tribe Four is that secret garden, where life abounds, where flowers bloom (and giggle) and new things grow and joy permeates.

But Tribe Four is not a walled garden, it is a vista reaching as far as the eye can see. But it is on the other side of the wall, the wall that we don't even know is there... our blind spot.

Only heart and will and risk will get us over that wall.

Heart that sees something no one else is seeing.

Will that puts legs under that heart, that makes choices towards the vision, cooperating with the vision.

And then the will to make it happen. To count one's life as lost unless this certain thing be gone after.

When all is said and done, it all comes back to that one great coaching question,

"What do you want?"


"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."
Matthew 11:28