Hey guys. Good morning. It’s been a rainy couple days, but the sun is back out again sort of and it’s warm.
It’s morning time. Just had breakfast and walked my daughter to the bus. And got some cereal for my son and had a little morning coffee.
I wanted to make your video for today, and I was inspired to read a little bit from this book.
This is called the Virgin Way by Richard Branson. I was in the library the other day getting some books for my son, and this was standing on the shelf looking at me, and I walked out, got his books, walked out, and then thought, “That was really LOOKING at me, this dude was LOOKING at me!”
So I got the book because I like signs like that. Just felt the inspiration to read it. And I haven’t read any of Richard Branson’s books, I don’t know much about him actually, but I was curious.
So then I opened it up.
This preface is called “Life’s too short. Don’t enjoy it, don’t do it.”
I loved the first few paragraphs here, so I wanted to read them to you. Enjoy.
From my very first commercial venture at age 16 with Student Magazine, right up to today’s far loftier adventures with such things as Virgin Galactic and space tourism, I’ve always had one paramount philosophy.
If a new project, or business opportunity doesn’t excite me and get my entrepreneurial and innovative juices flowing, if it’s not something with which I sense I can make a difference while having a lot of seriously creative fun, then I’d far rather pass on it and move right along to something else that does excite me.
This same line of thought flows into my attitude towards writing books. If I don’t enjoy writing them then the chances are pretty good that nobody is going to be too happy reading them.
The simple fact is that if you don’t enjoy what you’re doing and the people with whom you’re doing it, then there is no possible way that you are ever going to do it as well as something that you do enjoy.
As some wise person once said, “Life is not a dress rehearsal. This is it.”
So unless you plan to give it a better shot in your next life, assuming you’re lucky enough to get a second chance, then why risk wasting any of your limited time on this Earth doing stuff that doesn’t light your fire.
I’m constantly amazed at how many people appear to live their lives either always looking in the rear-view mirror or talking about how things are going to be different in the future. There’s nothing wrong with cherishing and enjoying memories and hopefully learning from past experiences, just as planning for the future is something we obviously all have to do as well.
But what about today? All too frequently, now gets lost in the frenetic shuffle to rush ahead to tomorrow.
Face it. These are the good old days that you’ll be looking back on twenty years from now, so why not move heaven and Earth to enjoy them while you’ve got them?
One last paragraph. I’m going to skip ahead.
I’ve often had people say to me, “Well sure Richard, all that stuff is easy for you to say when you’ve built your business and you’ve pretty much made it in life.”
To this my response is always along the lines of: Yes, that’s true to a degree. But why do you think I have all those companies?
They almost certainly wouldn’t be there had a not repeatedly dug my heels in and refused to spend my time on things I recognized as just not right for me.
Alright. I’ll leave you guys with that to stir up some new thoughts and feelings as you venture on the VisionQuest. Have a wonderful day.
Lots of love. Bye
Recorded at Wilson’s Creek, Australia on Mar 1, 2017.
