Recently my wife and I returned from a trip to Hawaii. My story is about it being 5 o’clock – which means happy hour.
After my wife and I sat down and ordered our Mai Tais, I turned around and saw a wooden sign that said Life Lessons From Sea Turtles.
Swim with the current. Be a good navigator. Stay calm under pressure. Be well traveled. Think long term. Age gracefully, and spend time at the beach.
Now all of these things the turtle does, and I’d like to hope that I do most of these.
Swimming with the current is one that I probably struggle with. Sometimes you need to go upstream. Sometimes you need to fight the currents. Some of your best lessons are learned when there’s a powerful force up against you.
I hope I’m a good navigator. My wife and children would probably disagree, but here I’m referring to navigating and mentoring people in their careers. If you’ve been mentored, thank that person. If you don’t have a coach or mentor, go find one.
Stay calm under pressure. That’s a powerful message.
Be well traveled. If you haven’t traveled outside of the city or state that you live in, or if you’re from the United States and you haven’t been to other countries, you need to get up and get out and see the rest of the world. You will learn to appreciate people and cultures and governments and geography and topography like never before. And when you come home, you’ll appreciate the country you’ve left – the freedoms, the rights and the privileges that you have.
The next message is to think long term. What is that long term career goal that you have? What wishes and dreams do you have for your family, for your children and grandchildren?
Age gracefully. I’m getting up there in age but I’m enjoying every year more than the previous one. As I have life experiences, I’ve come to appreciate the people I’ve met and the places I’ve been. I’ve learned to be much more grateful.
And finally, I love to spend time at the beach. I always have, from the time I was a teenager out in Southern California at Hermosa and Torrance and Redondo Beach. I thought I was one of the Beach Boys. So let’s take this message out with a little bit of surf and music, from the surfing band of the 60s.
