“We choose to go to the Moon …”

I have always been enamored with big ideas.

The moonshot so to speak. “We choose to go to the Moon …” said President John F. Kennedy on September 12, 1962, and indeed – we got there. This type of thinking has captivated me since I was a young boy. What could be is far more interesting to me than where we presently stand today.

In fact, my personal pursuits have included in-depth study and work on massive scale societal issues, such as climate change and income inequality.

I moved to Portland ten years ago from New York City to work for the Energy Trust of Oregon in order to help address climate change. I was fortunate to work on groundbreaking projects, including GreenStreet Lending and Clean Energy Works Portland.

I have read dozens and dozens of economic articles, books, journals and studies over the years on the phenomenon of income inequality and its gross impact on today’s society. I also worked as an Executive Director for a Community Development Corporation in New York City, and I was a founding board member and President of Alberta Main Street here in Portland.

These experiences produced a big question:

How do you begin to address challenges of this scope and enact real, tangible, lasting change?

Early in the New Year, I decided it was a critical time to take a step back from my business and reassess my business model, my products and services, my clients, and my strategic partners. Who was I working with? Why? To what end and impact? Doing a deep dive into my own business has been a challenging exercise, but a necessary and well-timed one.

The business has experienced significant growth and achieved outstanding fiscal success over the past two years. The work was both plentiful and consistent, and there’s much to be thankful for.

Yet, the volume of work bogged me down in the day to day operations of my clients’ businesses. I lost sight of my own big picture.

Does this sound familiar? If you are a fellow business owner, entrepreneur or executive, you have likely experienced this pain before.

“We choose to go the Moon …”

The first step forward is often a necessary and vital one. I recognized a problem and chose to take action to help resolve the issue.

That combination is key. It is not enough to simply recognize a problem. What are you going to do about it? For myself, that involved setting aside a significant amount of time,energy, and money and investing in myself and in my business for a better tomorrow.

If I am committed to my clients and our work together and to addressing their challenges and opportunities, why would I not make a similar commitment to my own business?

This process over the past few months has been one of personal growth. It has afforded me an opportunity to rethink my business vision, mission and goals. I wanted and needed to make sure that I landed on the right moon.

After all, we are the captains of our own ship, the masters of our destiny.

Are you a business owner, entrepreneur or executive looking to aiming “to go to the Moon”?

I’d like to hear more about your personal journey.