The one decision that changed my life.
Henry Rollins was the lead singer of the legendary punk rock band, Black Flag. That was in the 80′s. His story is that he was “discovered” at his place of employment at the time, Haagen Dazs. He had to drop everything to take a chance on the band. The rest is history. Sort of.
Henry Rollins, when he was younger…
You see, the band eventually broke up. And he was left with a choice.
- Go back to scooping ice cream.
- Do something else.
He chose something else. He started writing poetry. He leveraged his “fame” and did poetry reading tours. He set up a publishing company and started writing. He got into acting. If someone offered him an opportunity, any opportunity, he took it.
Basically, he said yes to everything. Because the other option was to go back to scooping ice cream. As he put it, guys like him aren’t supposed to succeed.
You gotta realize that this isn’t easy. Owning your own business or brand and actually earning a living isn’t a paint-by-numbers affair. People who sell you stuff want you to believe that it is. They want you to believe that you can do everything yourself. Becoming self made isn’t a lonely affair. Usually, self made means that you were able to secure the right connections to enough people to help “make” you.
You need to say yes. When you are first starting out, you should be saying yes to everything that comes your way. Because each yes is a step forward.
What does a yes mean?
A yes means, you can get things done or you are willing to try.
A yes means committing to helping someone else.
A yes means connecting people to other people, even if they are your competition.
What do you think?
Should you say yes to everything?
Image Attribution:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/joniraundegi/2745531963/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sizemore/86403724/
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I’m reminded of one of my favorite quotes:
When life hands you a lemon, say,
“Oh yeah, I like lemons. What else you got?” ~Henry Rollins
Say YES to EVERYTHING.
Debi….I love it.
Hi Leo. Saying yes is generally a good idea unless it’s crystal meth (then again there’s nothing wrong with experimenting is there?!) But I couldn’t agree with you more, having that drive to get out of your comfort zone is why when I was 19 (about 3 months ago) I managed to get two jobs teaching English in China.
I could go into the grizzly details but achieving this involved an incredible amount get up and go attitude.
I couldn’t even legally enter China because I didn’t have enough money on my bank statement. Who says MS Paint isn’t useful?
I couldn’t legally work and live because I don’t have a uni degree. Who says business degrees are just for businessmen?
I didn’t have any experience, who says a little internet research and the fabrication of 13 months of work experience is a bad thing if you know you’ve learnt how to teach?
Actually who am I kidding, the meth was fantastic.