Christopher V. Flett

I am reminded today that the big picture is necessary, but the baby steps are where magic happens. It is you putting one foot forward each day, putting weight on it, and moving the next foot forward that gets you to the top of the mountain. Too many times, people get frustrated, disheartened, upset because they aren’t at the top yet. They think that they have paid their dues, should get an elevator ride, rather than take the stairs, and beat themselves up. Your success this year, and throughout your life, is going to be from taking one step at a time. Put one foot  in front of another and keep going. I love in the movie “Castaway” when Tom Hanks finds out that after being lost for five years that his love has married (and had kids with someone else).

“I was never gonna get off that island. I was gonna die there, totally alone. I was gonna get sick, or get injured or something. The only choice I had, the only thing I could control was when, and how, and where it was going to happen. So… I made a rope and I went up to the summit, to hang myself. I had to test it, you know? Of course. You know me. And the weight of the log, snapped the limb of the tree, so I-I – , I couldn’t even kill myself the way I wanted to. I had power over *nothing*. And that’s when this feeling came over me like a warm blanket. I knew, somehow, that I had to stay alive. Somehow. I had to keep breathing. Even though there was no reason to hope. And all my logic said that I would never see this place again. So that’s what I did. I stayed alive. I kept breathing. And one day my logic was proven all wrong because the tide came in, and gave me a sail. And now, here I am. I’m back. In Memphis, talking to you. I have ice in my glass… And I’ve lost her all over again. I’m so sad that I don’t have Kelly. But I’m so grateful that she was with me on that island. And I know what I have to do now. I gotta keep breathing. Because tomorrow the sun will rise. Who knows what the tide could bring?”

As you take each step, you never know what that step is going to lead to. By putting the little pieces together, you can start to orchestrate something amazing. When I’m asked how I’ve built Ghost CEO over time, I just say, “I started with an idea, a client, a process, a couple of tools, and each day I worked to get better, smarter, faster, and more knowledgeable about profit modelling. There was no magic. I just put one foot in front of the next and now after nine years, 6,234 sessions, I know one thing…I have much to learn. Going back to the individual components making magic, here is a great youtube video a friend put me onto. Amazing how he puts the little pieces together. Nothing on their own; together they are magic. What brilliance will your next step unleash? I’m excited to find out. I hope you enjoy this video as much as I do. Have a great weekend. Rest…you deserve it.

C/