The Trampoline Effect

Myth: It matters who you know.

I couldn’t be more of a nobody. When I showed up as a 17 year old kid on the campus of Moody Bible Institute I couldn’t have been more aware that I’d stepped into a world I knew nothing about, knew not a soul, and had no claim to anything.

As I met people, they referenced relationships to people I’d never heard of. Famous pastors. Famous parents. Famous books. Famous and important allegiances that would take them far in life.

Years later I learned that some of my early ministry job references were telling people that my biggest obstacle to a ministry career was that I didn’t come from a ministry family. “He’s a nice guy, but didn’t grow up in a ministry setting, so he can’t possibly ever be that effective.”

Huh…. Really? 

17 years later I can look up many of those people on Facebook and quickly learn that knowing all the right people and kissing all of the right rings hasn’t gotten them very far in life.

Why is that? Because it doesn’t really matter who you know. That’s just a lie told by people in power to make you think you’re a nothing. 

Your Secret to Success

The Trampoline Effect: Who you don’t know isn’t nearly as important as what you do with who you do know.

Give me a handful of friends who want to help one another and we’ll do 10000% more in a month than a pile of well-connected, entitlement fat, whiners who think the world owes them their next paycheck.

It’s simple physics. 

Potential Energy = 0 Impact

If you’re a nobody like me. If you’re like me and your family lineage looks more like a bush than a tree. If your track record includes some famous failures. If you have dreams bigger than your budget or zip code. If you woke up this morning and realized that you have no more tricks in your bag.

Than the Trampoline Effect is good news to you. Having the right friends is nice. But it isn’t the difference between success and failure! I’m living proof.

Get together with a couple friends and show the world what you can do. 

Kinetic Energy = Massive Impact


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2 responses to “The Trampoline Effect”

  1. Nick Arnold Avatar

    Holy crap that’s a pretty amazing backflip.

    That’s the amazing thing about ministry. Sure, everyone knows Doug Fields, for example, but there are probably hundreds of other ministry leaders who work just as hard but keep their head down. It’s the working hard part that really matters.

  2. Dave Urbanski Avatar
    Dave Urbanski

    good thoughts, Adam. and very good for me to hear. i sure do appreciate you sharing them. i’ll be digesting them throughout my day, to be sure.

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