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Illustrations by Tyler Hildebrand
Some truths are self evident. Other truths are evidence of the self. Don Donovan believes most of us hide from real truth. “Instead of bending the truth to our life, we need to bend our life to the truth,” Donovan professes. It’s a fetching comment from a man who spends his life like a modern day Don Draper, as CEO of the San Francisco-based ad agency Baker Street Solutions.
The discovery process for finding the real truth is a lot like searching for precious metals. Most people choose to strip mine for their truth because it's gratuitous and easy. Often people find an elusive vein of wisdom after dismantling everything surrounding it. Unfortunately, in that search for the mother lode, a lot of important material gets lost. Listening to someone and taking what you want to hear and not what they intended you to understand is a waste of time, people and resources.
“It won't be as easy as blowing the top off the mountain to get to the wise man, but looking at every grain before tossing it aside allows us to make the gold we find meaningful. It’s as uncomplicated as simply taking a pan and heading to the nearest stream of conversation.” Donovan thinks nearly every moment holds a golden nugget of truth and inspiration if you are willing to work for it. 
Tools to meet your goal
These seven steps that Don Donovan suggests will help you find those elusive nuggets.
1. Be intellectually curious
It's the 21st century, and we have the collected knowledge of humanity at our fingertips. Don't waste it. Intellectual growth begins with the desire to know more about your world.
2. Allow intellectually honesty
Allow yourself to change your mind about something that you have deep conviction. There is no point in being curious if you already have all the answers. Donovan believes that his Alpha mistake in life was ignoring great advice. “There is danger in believing your own stuff. If you have finally found the right place you’ll know it, don't continue to linger in all the wrong ones,” he says. Donovan equates intellectually honesty to taking penicillin to cure an infection verses taking drugs to mask the pain of the malady.
3. Listen like a dear friend
Curiosity shouldn’t be relegated to childhood and honesty should be reserved for the clergy. Don't overlook the value of another’s life experience. If you think you're wasting your time by talking to someone, you're right, but it's only because you aren't listening.
4. Be passionate about people
Once you start listening, you'll find that people want to be inspired just as much as you do. Inspire them to be bigger than themselves, and bigger than yourself. Donovan surrounds himself with people who are better than himself. He believes the way to improvement is to “ski behind black diamond skiers.” There is no end to what you can accomplish if you don’t care who gets the credit.
5. Synthesize the chaos
If you manage to become an information enthusiast, don't get besieged by the pool of information you amass. Use your intellectual curiosity to learn how to build a boat and sail on top of the pool of information. You must always be diligent to make sense of the world by converting the chaos to clarity.
6. Do work that is worthy of Honor
Do not be satisfied with ‘getting it done’, but in ‘getting it right’. In the professional world it would be doing what is right for their business—telling them what they need to hear to succeed even if it isn’t what they want to hear. It is not turning in that term paper just because it is finished knowing it is “B” work. It is redoing it until you think it is an “A” - because that is work worthy of honor. It is sweeping up and making the place clean, rather than sweeping it under the rug.
7. Have a bias for action
Don't use all these tools to get trapped in your own mind. Think about how each of these tools affects what you do and spring into action.
These are not ‘obvious’ skills – yet they are the bedrock, the foundation for personal contribution and individual achievement. Donovan believes “meritocracy is the basis for the strongest possible economy and nation”. It is the actions of the individual that are the change we really need.
“Nothing is more satisfying that personal achievement. Personal achievement gives the sense of self-worth, allows for self-government, and gives the confidence to be self-reliant” according to Donovan. “It is what every person would really want, if they were given the chance, not a hand-out. Everyone contributing to the best of their ability is what will allow us greatness as individuals as a nation.”
