Fill ‘er Up!

by Vince Fabra

I just walked off the stage at a Phi Kappa Psi conference in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico (check out this video of the beautiful scenery), and I was feeling Phired Up/exhausted (what a combination).  So I decided to stay home and write a blog.

This blog is a simple analogy that involves your car gas tank.  It is not a rant about gas prices, though that would be blog-worthy.  I use this metaphor because everyone knows how it works. You put gas in, you drive, when you need more gas, you pay for it and fill it up (“if you don’t know, now you know” – Notorious B.I.G.).

There are certain experiences that fill our tank up no matter where the needle currently is. A conference, a formal meeting, a fraternity ritual, a powerful conversation are all events or occasions that get your motivation needle beyond “F”. Here is an observation about those events or occasions:  They all involve other people. (Hold on to that thought for a second)

Conversely, there are certain experiences that kill our MPG ratio (Motivation Per Gallon). These might be resistance from loud guy/girl, your favorite new member quitting, and feeling like the only horse in the chapter – to name a few.  To sum those up… FAILING. Failing takes us from “F” to “E” faster than anything.

We fail and then we look back on that conference we attended, that formal meeting that moved us, that ritual that inspired us, etc. as a distant memory. But when we attend the next one, we get that high again. We become “Full”.

(Remember when I said I wanted you to hold onto that observation earlier. See paragraph 3). We rely on the joy of learning with others, sharing with others, laughing with others to fill up our tank. The crux of this blog, the simple question that I want to pose to you is, how do you fill the tank when there is no conference, ritual, powerful conversation?

A friend/collegue/mentor/Phamily member named Josh Orendi (Because you fill all of those roles, I am just going to start calling you “Slash”, Josh) and I met over dinner while I was in Indy for a conference. At dinner, “Slash” asked me “What are you reading to make you better?” I had no answer. (“Isn’t that why I am at this conference Josh?” I thought.)

I had no answer because I was allowing others to control the pump on my tank. My hope for all of the Phi Kappa Psi’s at this conference with me and anyone who clicked on this blog and is still reading it is that you will control your pump. Subscribe to a magazine that is in your desired field. Cut your funny video on YouTube usage from 5/hour with no purpose to 3/hour. Choose to learn with the other two (TED.com has some really inspiring stuff). Read a blog that isn’t about Lady Gaga’s fashion (although it is super enthralling) and go read blogs like the ones we recommend on this page.

We have more gas in the tank than we think. We need to push ourselves and test our limits. I cannot give a lesson any better than this video.

3 steps.

1. Watch the video.
2. Dry your eyes because the poignancy of the leadership lessons are will make you sob out of laughter.
3. Email me a response and I’ll repost it.

You leadership nerds will FREAKING LOVE THIS. I truly was in stitches at how ridiculously well this video explains that point.

By the way, if you are a reader of our blog, a sincere thanks for filling your tank with us.