My mom didn't study engineering in college, nor did she study accounting. In fact, she didn't even go to college. Instead, she made the decision to start working right after high school to support my ailing grandfather. Of course, in the beginning, she started out at the bottom, taking jobs at restaurants like McDonald's, but eventually, she went to New York City and started applying for jobs for which she had the skills.
At the same age I am now, twenty years old, she was working full time as a secretary in New York City. This job then led her to an even higher-paying job when her employer had a disagreement with one of the partners. Because she instinctively was able to keep all of the records for important clients, she built the foundation of a twenty-five year loyal relationship with the CEO who went on to find a new private investing company that manages $4.4 billion of assets today.
In high school, I regrettably remember not taking any of my mom's advice when taking me to baseball camps all over the country. One of the pieces of advice she would always tell me was to go up to the coaches and sell yourself. Being 17 and stubborn at the time, I never listened to her. I didn't want to go up to the coaches because I wasn't confident; I wanted the coaches to come to me.
When I didn't get to go to the school I wanted to go for baseball, I decided that letting the action come to me wasn't the best approach. Of course I had to hear the advice that my mom gave me from several different people until I grasped the true meaning.
One of my favorite online personalities, Gary Vaynerchuk, is famous for saying "Ideas are shit. Execution is the game," which means that you could talk all you want about how you are going to change the world, but unless you go out and execute the plan, then you aren't going to change anything.
Last week, my entrepreneurship professor berated me in class because I told him that I called one of the local chefs for my project and he hadn't called me back for three days. The message finally hit home. In order to get what you want, you can't be satisfied with an email or phone call, you must show up. Remarkably, I have found that the people I seek out are actually more than willing to help me on my journey.
After the lecture from my professor, I took a twenty-five minute walk at 11 p.m. on a Wednesday to a restaurant that I thought could help me for my project. I spoke with the line chef to get a better understanding of learning how to cook. He was, to my surprise, excited to help in any way possible. He made sure that next time I frequent the restaurant that I ask for him because he wants to know how our project turned out.
Truly, I have learned that the world is on your team. People like to talk about having "haters" or enemies all the time or how the world is such a horrible place. Well, that notion exists only in your head. The ones who do not rely on their own knowledge but seek knowledgeable people will be the ones who receive the highest rewards.
