My mindset.
Why not be a big fish in a big ocean?
When I was nine my father’s company had it’s most profitable year to date. My father and his co-founders rewarded the entire team with a week’s vacation to the Cayman Islands. My father and I spent every afternoon in the ocean swimming, snorkeling, and body surfing while all the other families on the trip lounged by the hotel pool. I couldn’t for the life of me understand why you would choose to swim in a pool when you had the whole ocean right at your doorstep! This particular patch of ocean even had a trampoline about 100 yards out and the water was even more blue than the pools!
Okay sure, maybe I didn’t understand the appeal of a pool bar at the time but my desire to experience and explore, not just the depths of the ocean, is who I am. It’s my legacy.
Go big, dig deep!
When I was seven I tried to dig a hole to China. My mom had no problem with this, because she knew I wouldn’t get to China. But what she didn’t know is I starting sneaking out of the house at night to keep digging. And my mom and the other moms were fine with the neighborhood kids coming over and helping my dig, they knew we wouldn’t get to China. But what they didn’t know is that we all started sneaking out of our houses at night to keep digging.
Now about 5 days into this operation we had a hole about 7 feet in diameter and 12 feet deep. We had to dig steps to get out of it! Now if you’re running an operation when you’re seven you’re allowed to have a no girls allowed rule. But we did strike a deal with the girls, they could come look at the hole in exchange for Fruit Roll-Ups and Grape Kool-Aid.
Now the hole was back in the woods so our moms never checked on us, they would come to the edge of the woods and holler at us to come eat. But one evening I was out there with my best friend Sean and my dad was home from work early and came to get us for dinner. He walked back figuring he’d check out the small hole we’d dug and bring us in for dinner. When he peered down at me in this giant crater he said “son I’m impressed but you’re going to have to stop” confused at first I composed myself and responded “good thinking dad . . . grab that shovel while I get dinner.”
Did we get to China? No (who said we’re done digging though?) but I learned to work hard, be passionate, inspire others, and even made my first local paper with that operation.
Don’t just sit around waiting and procrastinating. Go do something, it’ll be worth it. Even if you don’t know how at first.
My mindset: Have Fun, Work Hard, Experience and Explore.
“Go *do* something. I needed to read this today. Some thinking is useful but much better when followed up by action. Thank you for sharing these charming stories – I learned something from your very upbeat take on life.