Truths My Father Told Me
If they have never had the opportunity to experience the 20-ft. swells, how could they possibly know how to steer into them, instead of going in sideways and being overturned by the wall of water.
It’s the same in business. You need to experience the tough times to know how to get out of them. You can get this experience by either being a cabin boy (working for someone else for a time and watching them experience troubles) or by buying your own ship and learning on your own.
You can also hire a guide (someone who has “been there and done that”) that you can trust to advise you privately or to lead your crew for you. If you learn from others, you need to learn from others who are successful.
Learn, do not follow. Otherwise you could end up following them to the bottom of the great blue sea of business. If you notice others sinking, you can learn from their bad example as to what not to do.
If you get your experience on your own, with no previous knowledge of what you’re getting into, be prepared for the worst. It’s a gamble, and I don’t like gambling unless the odds are in my favor. Then it really isn’t gambling; it’s succeeding (take a look at the casinos).
You could also get out to sea and find out you didn’t plan ahead and stock life preservers and lifeboats. That could be fatal.
Many times, when a business failed, it had many experienced “sailors” who learned what not to do. They experienced mistakes at the hand of their captain and could be valuable “deck hands” and officers for your ship. (Providing, of course, they never “went down with the ship.”)
Many captains will bring guides with them when sailing into strange harbors, so they can point out reefs and rocks. Someone with a home-waters advantage can save the lives of your crew, yourself and your investment.
Don’t complain about the winds and waves. Learn how to ride them out and avoid the future storms and you will be the old salt everyone in the business looks to as the only one who can do it. That’s not a bad way for customers to view you, either.
“A Dog Has More Friends Because He Wags His Tail, Not His Tongue”
Ever notice those yippy little Chihuahuas? How many people, aside from their owners, actually adore them? Everyone who saw that famous taco-franchise commercial loved them, but in real life do they not act like the Napoleon Bonaparte of the dog world: “I need to be noticed so I must bark constantly to be feared.”
My father offered this saying when I was young and in my peacock stage: you know, that time when young men need to show off all of their strengths and plumage to be noticed by the girls. Young men will often do stupid things, and even hurt their friends, in an attempt to become noticed by the opposite sex.