Special Edition: Driven Tribe
This week’s letter was written by our friend and podcast guest, Justin Foster. Justin’s company, Root + River offers branding services for mission-driven founders.
“There are three kinds of people in the world: sheep, wolves and sheepdogs.”
Originally attributed to Lt Col David Grossman, this is a phrase I’ve heard many times - well before learning about it in my own search to understand what it means to be Driven.
As Driven individuals we have the potential to be sheepdogs OR wolves. The key differentiator, in my experience, is the decision to lead with one's soul.
These are people I refer to as “Awake Alphas”. They have the genetic wiring of a sheepdog but are also doing the work to become highly conscious individuals. If Driven people make up 10% of the population, Awake Alphas make up 1% of the population of Driven people. It is a minuscule number but history has its examples - from King David to Marcus Aurelius to Oprah.
What differentiates a sheepdog from an Awake Alpha?
Sheepdogs are impulsively protective. They are constantly vigilant of the perimeter they have been assigned to monitor. These are highly useful traits in actual dangerous situations. But most of the world is not dangerous. As such, sheepdogs can live in a state of near-constant neurosis. They bark at shadows and perceived threats. They have trouble being still and sleeping. If you’ve ever spent time with a non-working Border Collie, you know what I mean!
Awake Alphas have all of the above wiring but have added higher consciousness. Instead of impulsively protective, they are intuitively protective. They have centered and calm vigilance - where they are situationally aware but more in tune with the needs of others. Instead of being possessive, they have “clean” jealousy - they know the intrinsic pricelessness of those they love and lead. Instead of being aggressive, they are strategic and non-reactive.
As epigenetically-appointed sheepdogs, the world desperately needs the Driven to operate from a place of higher consciousness. The Awake Alpha accepts this call to consciousness and to protect the sheep, which is more important than succeeding or failing at it.
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Justin Foster noticed his defiance at a young age and his Driven behaviors grew in the shadows, manifesting as the imposter syndrome that so many Driven's are familiar with. Justin shares with us key awakenings in his life that uprooted the ideal persona he had formed to be accepted in the herd. He moved to Austin, uncoupled from his wife, and changed careers, radically altering his life and forcing him to grow. The battle between the ego and the soul is something Justin has welcomed. We talk with Justin about sitting in that discomfort and approaching life with more non-dual 'Third Way Thinking.'