3 | Why We Need Mission
- Oct 3, 2025
- 5 min read
Updated: Oct 26, 2025
Read the lesson.
Welcome back! Have you ever noticed how much camaraderie happens whenever a crisis occurs?
Think about it. 9/11. Hurricane Katrina. The London Blitz. COVID-19. Natural disasters. Wartime.
Suddenly, people who were strangers become allies. Communities that were divided start working together. Political differences get set aside. Everyone rallies around a common purpose.
Why is that?
In our last session, we watched how elephants instinctively rally together when external threats attack them. They don't scatter like sheep. They don't retreat. They form a protective circle, backs to each other, facing outward as one unified force.
And this is the goal—to be so internally strong that any external threat or opportunity is handled at peak performance.
But here's what I've observed: most teams, families, and friend groups operate the complete opposite way.
Here’s what I call the Internal Energy Drain - Problem
Most companies try to streamline workflows, increase efficiency and they only ever think about operations from a technology, workflow, project management, org chart approach.
I believe some of the biggest waste for team internally is the waste of energy on internal drama.
For example, how often have you been on a team, in a family, or group of friends where SO much energy was spent on internal issues.
How often do we seemingly waste energy, effort, and focus on "he said, she said" drama?
Doesn’t that kind of stuff take up so much time and energy?
Hours upon hours.
And what’s worse - how often do we fight amongst ourselves with no progress?
How often are we completely drained from our internal teams that we don't have capacity for external opportunities?
Here’s what I’m inviting you to start thinking about.
Teams were not meant to function this way.
Families don't have to function this way.
Friend don’t have to function this way.
We were meant to function at peak performance. Running forward, making progress, working together, aligning, experiencing true synergy, or compounding momentum by working together.
We were designed to function at higher levels together.
I’m not sure if you’ve ever read Sebastian Junger and his insights on team.
I remember on one of my many Barnes and Nobles trips - I saw this book called Tribe. It caught my attention and the main message of the book has always stuck with me. Sebastian Junger, author of "Tribe," discovered something fascinating in his research.
He discovered something counterintuitive: People who lived through the Bosnian war described it as "the happiest time of their lives" because everyone was forced to live together, pool their resources to survive, and all other worries were pushed aside as peripheral.
But here's the kicker: Junger found that humans need three main things to be happy: struggle, community, and purpose. The lack of these things in the West is why so many people today feel unfulfilled and directionless.
He found that humans have "a strong instinct to belong to small groups defined by clear purpose and understanding" and that "tribal society has been exerting an almost gravitational pull on Westerners for hundreds of years."
Let me give you a concrete example from my own experience.
I used to lead a summer internship for collegiate athletes. Every summer, we'd host 20 collegiate athletes for leadership development. Mornings were workouts, teachings, and trainings. Afternoons, they led local camps for younger athletes.
One summer, we had a gap week. For some reason, we didn't have a camp to run. Since we were deep into the internship, I decided to make it a slower week—let them rest and recover rather than spin up another camp.
About day two, I started getting phone calls. About conflict.
Now, conflict can be good—we'll get into that next month. But this was petty drama. So ridiculous. Things that in a normal week, when we had missional focus, would have been solved quickly and timely.
But because there was less mission that week, the energy seemed to drifted into internal drama.
The Revelation
Here's what we discovered in debriefing: It was the lack of mission that generated internal drama.
No other week did we have internal issues. We actually trained these athletes on honor, camaraderie, and healthy conflict. But when mission was removed, relationships alone weren't enough.
This is a small glimpse into how we're wired as human beings.
The Core Insight
We're made to be on mission with others.
We’re made to struggle with others.
We’re made to pursue purpose with others.
We're made to NOT just have all our time focused on our relationships.
I know this sounds weird, but think about it: Do you see how mission and relationship balance each other out?
Without mission, our relationships are not enough for us to create a healthy sense of camaraderie. We need something external to focus on and allocate energy toward.
Why Mission Matters - The Junger Connection
Junger's research backs this up. He argues that "modern society has weakened this sense of community, leading to feelings of isolation and unhappiness" because "Western society is built on respect for individual rights" but "we sometimes forget that the 'me' needs a 'we' to thrive."
As members of a community, we should not focus solely on our work itself, but on how our work would benefit our community as a whole, therefore giving us a sense of purpose and belonging.
Mission isn't just a worthy cause—mission actually helps us create better, stronger relationships.
Relationships need mission.
The Modern Crisis
Modern societies have seen a huge rise in mental illnesses, and countries with big income disparities are at much higher risk of developing mood disorders. Why? Because we can go "a whole day—or a whole life—living among millions without ever feeling part of any community. Basically, being fully alone while being among millions."
The Solution
When we have a mission—a purpose that serves something bigger than ourselves—we naturally start operating like those elephants. We face outward together instead of fighting inward against each other.
Every team, every family, every friend group has the exact same ability to function at peak performance.
Peak meaning the energy, effort, and focus is geared toward growth, forward momentum—not internal drama.
The Call to Action
So here's my challenge for you: Look at your current team, family, or friend group.
Are you spending more energy on internal drama or external mission?
Are you facing outward together like elephants, or are you scattered like sheep?
As Junger puts it: "Home is the place where if you have to go there, they have to take you in. The word tribe is harder to define, but a start might be people you feel compelled to share the last of your food with."
Mission creates that kind of tribe. It gives us something worth sharing our last meal for. Something worth facing outward together for.
Closing
The crisis doesn't create the camaraderie—it reveals what we were made for all along.
We were made to be on mission together.
The question is: What mission will you rally your people around?
That's all for today. I'll see you soon.