Advice That Stuck: Professional Development

Over the month of January, I had the distinct privilege of having a one on one meeting with every member of the team to discuss their professional goals for 2014. My stated intention was to simply act as a sounding board and use the Socratic method to help each individual evaluate each goal more closely.

When I was 15 years old, my best friend and I set a goal to go sky diving at a local establishment between my hometown and Albany, NY. The only problem was, we were both underage (I recall 18 being the cutoff age) and we didn’t have the money (tandem jumps cost $200 and solo jumps cost $300+). So we postponed the goal until were a little older and a little richer.

Courage, communication, and trust: I picked these words in 2012 because I wanted to “level up” in life, and each of these words represented a key component of my plan to make that happen. Courage was necessary to make the big, bold decisions. Communication was necessary to get the most impact out of my interactions with everyone. Trust was important because my gut instincts were usually right and I needed to follow said instincts, even when I didn’t necessarily like where they were leading me.

What would your life be like if you were born in a different city? A different state? A different country?

What would your life be like if you were born into a family that was rich? A family that was poor? A family that was homeless?

What would your life be like if you were born as a different gender? As a different race? As a different religion?

What would your life be like if you lived your entire life in a rainforest? In a desert? In a city?

What were your views on the world when you were just a baby? When you became a teenager? What are they now?

Controversy abounded when the new policy was passed in my high school. Previously, teachers were merely encouraged to volunteer their time to put on after school programs and activities to help students get better grades, to help athletes perform better in their sports, and so on. The teachers who decided to participate, many of whom had families to return to, gladly helped out because of their love for what they did and derived a sense of joy out of helping out. The students benefited. The teachers benefitted. It was win-win.

And then came the policy.

A friendly recently asked me how I was doing I immediately and enthusiastically rattled off the following highlights:

• My wife was about to return to college a second time to pursue her true passion and calling—music.
• My brother was starting up his second leg of his 10+ month journey through Central and South America.
• My friend Ben was about to take a bold first step in launching his new company to follow his dream.

When that little voice inside your head tries to convince you that it can’t be done, IMMEDIATELY challenge yourself by asking why not?

Everything man made on this planet, from the aptly named Great Wall of China down to the smallest nanotechnologies, were initiated from a single thought in a human mind.

The upperclassmen could always count on at least one freshman vomiting into a trash can on the first, brutal day of our 6 week conditioning period. 3+ mile warm up runs, 30 minutes of calisthenics, and then a myriad of stair sprints, hurdle hops, medicine ball tosses, fartleks, continuos relays, etc. I must say, having been both an athlete and coach, that it was much more enjoyable to be watching than slugging through each and every day… finishing up in the sport medicine facilities with ice packs and vitamin I (Ibuprofen) to prepare for the next onslaught.

You don't need a million dollars to feel rich.
You don't need a doctor's help to heal yourself.
You don't need an MBA to start a business.
You don't need a plan to start moving.
You don't need approval from someone else in order to accept yourself.
You don't need to know a person to change their life.
You don't need to check your email every 5 minutes.
You don't need to prove how clever you are.
You don't need to celebrity status to make a difference.
You don't need to be a model to be on youtube.

Fear is a bitch. It will incessantly create 1000’s of illusions and lies to try and convince you that you’ll fail, get hurt, be embarrassed, and suffer from an almost impossible combination of simultaneous pains for doing something as simple as asking for a job or posting something on the internet that is too controversial for your alleged friends. Buy into these lies and you’ll be paralyzed into inaction, contained in a prison of your own creation.