"Actions separate people"

Hello hello, and welcome back again.

Yesterday morning, I faced my first final exam at UWA. Riding my bike with my shirt off,  lucky Habs hat and game face on, I was feeling like a million bucks on my way to the exam. The questions turned out to be exactly what I had expected and thus prepared for, so I had heaps (Aussie for "lots") of quality stuff to write for each one. So much so that by the midway point of the exam, my right hand started to cramp up from writing so vigorously. I actually had to stop in my tracks to massage and stretch it out for a couple minutes! Fortunately I recovered well, and I'm pretty sure I'm smashed the exam. Boom. 1 down, 2 to go.

Once we were done, my mate Cam and I stepped outside the building in the blaring sun. Right in front of us, a varsity cricket game was being played on the oval. I've always thought cricket looked like the weirdest sport, but I also felt like it was another part of the Aussie culture I needed to embrace. Consequently, it wasn't long before Cam and I reached the consensus that having a few beers while watching cricket would be an appropriate celebration for dominating the exam. En route for the Bottle-o (aka the Bottle Shop aka the Liquor store)!

We got there, and much to our dismay, all the beers were grossly overpriced. I'm talking, 18$+ for a 6 pack. What the hell?

2 minutes later, I was walking out of the store with a bag of goon in my hands, and a smile on my face. This was going to be a glorious arvo.

Upon returning to the oval, we set up shop on the grass and began consuming the goon.

At first, we were drinking in reasonable fashion. However, as you can imagine, cricket isn't the most thrilling sport to watch. Intricate, and somewhat interesting, but certainly not thrilling.

Hence, we did what college students do when they want to shake things up and make drinking more exciting. We invented a drinking game. A cricket drinking game! It was a good game and I would gladly explain it to you, but first I would have to explain to you the rules of cricket. Which would take me about 5000 words, and even then you'd probably still be confused. So all I'll say is, it didn't take too long for the goon bag to become empty, and for our minds to become merry.

Amidst all the shenanigans and the ridiculous talking, we somehow discussed a few interesting concepts. To make sure I didn't forget them, I actually took a few notes in my phone. I eventually went home for dinner, and, exhausted from the exam and drinking in the sun all day, I passed out at 8:30pm!

This morning I woke up feeling refreshed and re-energized at... wait for it... 5:45am! Initially I thought I should go back to sleep, but then I did the math and realized I'd slept for more than 9 hours. Good enough. Got up and set the day in motion.

After messing around in the house for a bit, I set off for my favorite bike ride.

Posted it on FB before, but it's worth a repost. Best bike ride ever.

It felt awesome to clean up my system and just ride away while enjoying the scenery. Biggest worry I had my mind was whether to contemplate the shining blue waters on my left, or survey the multi-million dollar mansions to my right. Tough choice, I know.

I eventually caught up with a couple guys who looked like legit cyclists. Riding 5000$ bike, wearing matching body suits and lightweight clip-shoes, the real deal. As you know, I enjoy a bit of competition, so I decided to race them, just for fun. On my 100$ Red Rooster bike, wearing nothing but my board shorts, my sandals, and my "snowboard" helmet! The only advantage I had on them was that I was listening to Gareth Emery's podcast 110, and they weren't!

I gave them a good ride for them money for about 5km. I would love to know what they were thinking during those 5km. Some random dude on his shitty bike, looking like he's on his way to the beach, trying to race them. With a moderate amount of success to top it off! I was feeling pretty good, and at some point part of me felt like I was about to drop them and ride away!

But then, reality hit me... and I learned (well, I kinda knew it already) that goon isn't the most sustainable source of energy for athletic performance... I went from feeling awesome, to horrible, in about 2.3 seconds. Once that weird phenomenon took place, it wasn't too long before my 2 rivals were just a dot in the horizon. "Nice try, random dude with the snowboard helmet!" ;)

That being said, throughout this whole bike ride, I actually got some good thinking done. Mostly revisiting the ideas that were discussed yesterday, and assessing if they were drunken misconceptions or legit ideas.

Although a few of them actually fit into the drunken misconception category, one of them passed the "sober analysis" test with flying colours. And this is what I wanted to write about here today. Yes, I know, that was a bit of a lengthy introduction but I can't help it!

As the title indicates, this concept can be summarized in 3 simple words. "Actions separate people"

What sparked this idea in my mind was one small part of the conversation I had with Cam at the cricket.

He's finishing his Master of Marketing in a couple weeks, so I asked him what he plans on doing upon graduating. I expected him to give me the usual answer, "Ahh you know, gonna try and find a good marketing job downtown", or something along those lines. Not that there's anything wrong with that answer... But what he replied was much more interesting. He said, "I'm gonna write tons of music with my band, play guitar all the time. We're gonna commit to it, and  see how far we can take this thing." Pretty cool stuff right?

Let me ask you a question. In your opinion, what do The Beatles, Mark Zuckerberg, Albert Einstein, and Walt Disney have in common?

Yes, they are all among the most successful people of the last century. Yes, their respective successes have changed the world as we know it.

Now, let's dig a little deeper. What has made them so extravagantly successful? Is because they're smart? Is it because they are talented? Is it because they got lucky?

Or is it, as Malcolm Gladwell's suggest in his book Outliers, because they spent 10,000 hours honing their particular skill?

Here's what I think. To be extremely successful, to the point where you bring a significant positive contribution to the world, you do need to be all these things. Smart, talented, lucky, and yes you need to work your socks off to become the best you can be.

But above all, you need an idea, a vision, and you need to go after it. I mean, really go after it.

Let me elaborate. How many times have we been sitting around with friends talking about various things, and then in the middle of nowhere, come up with a brilliant idea. Either for a business, a trip, a project, anything really. Just a great idea. We get really excited about it, because it's a damn good idea! We plan it all out and we think, "yes this could really work!"

Fast forward a month later. Time has passed, the excitement has faded, and the great idea has gone unrealized. I know it's happened to me too many times, and I'm sure you've experienced it as well.

Let's look at it another way. Do you remember the last time you saw a new product on TV and thought to yourself, "Wow, this is such a simple yet awesome idea I wish I'd thought of that!" Well, given that it's a simple idea, chances are many people have had it before. But no one did anything about it. Until one guy came around, had that same idea, got really excited about it, AND got off his ass and actually did something about it. And that right there, ladies & gentlemen, is the common denominator between all successful people. They go after it. "Actions separate people".

It's nothing ground-breaking, but I truly believe this is the difference between the best and the rest. Many people are smart. Many people have good ideas. Some even come up with a solid implementation plan. But too few actually go after it.

Now you might think, "Yeah but if I go after it... it might not work... I'll lose my time and money.. that would really suck". Well, yeah, big news, that might happen.

But here's the kicker. Most of the super successful people fail, sometimes several times, on their way to success. If you don't believe me, take a minute to look at this list. 50 Famously Succcessful People who failed at first: http://www.onlinecollege.org/2010/02/16/50-famously-successful-people-who-failed-at-first/

A few of my favorites one:

Steven Spielberg: While today Spielberg's name is synonymous with big budget, he was rejected from the University of Southern California School of Theater, Film and Television three times. He eventually attended school at another location, only to drop out to become a director before finishing. Thirty-five years after starting his degree, Spielberg returned to school in 2002 to finally complete his work and earn his BA. 

Stephen King: The first book by this author, the iconic thriller Carrie, received 30 rejections, finally causing King to give up and throw it in the trash. His wife fished it out and encouraged him to resubmit it, and the rest is history, with King now having hundreds of books published the distinction of being one of the best-selling authors of all time.

Michael Jordan: Most people wouldn't believe that a man often lauded as the best basketball player of all time was actually cut from his high school basketball team. Luckily, Jordan didn't let this setback stop him from playing the game and he has stated, "I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take the game winning shot, and I missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."


Although I've never met any of them personally, I'd be willing to bet you that these failures were amongst the best learning experiences of their entire lives. They'd probably agree that without them they wouldn't be where they are today.

As Duncan from The Buried Life says, a couple hours before asking out his dream girl, Taylor Swift, on a date (through some crazy elaborate plan!): "This whole thing is about living without regrets. And living without what if's. So whether she says yes or no, it doesn't really matter. It's all about taking the leap." (For the record, he did ask her out. And she said yes. As someone who has a bit of a Taylor Swift crush myself, I find that pretty damn cool).

The last "great idea" I had was to create a documentary/reality show on the behind-the-scene life of the Montreal Canadiens players. With the growing popularity of reality show type stuff, and the continued adoration of the Montreal population for Habs, I had no doubt that this was a great concept. I almost wrote an email to someone from the Canadiens to get things rolling. But I didn't. And now, guess what? Bell, one of the largest media companies in Montreal, has a show based on exactly that concept debuting in 3 weeks! I'm kicking myself, but... lesson learned.

So next time you have a great idea... Write it down. Do the appropriate research and make sure it's actually a viable idea. Make a gameplan. And get after it. With everything you got.

Fortunately, I have another great idea now. I'm currently in the research stage of the project, and things are looking good. It's really exciting, but a little scary at the same time. However I read this quote about an hour ago, and couldn't agree more: "Fear is temporary, but regret is forever".

No excuses for this one. Time to get after it.

Cheers!

Phil