Thank you…you know I’m always embarrassed by long, glowing introductions like that. Simply introducing me as MC Rosher’s uncle would have been quite sufficient — given all of her accolades and awards this year! And if I combine that with the fact that she has now confirmed me as a “friend” on FaceBook — my life is now perfect!
But seriously, I stand here today quite humbled by it all, and amazed, really, that Pacelli would ask me back to speak — after – ahem – all this time. Certainly there are MANY more-deserving alumni than I to be giving this speech today, so I’m pretty sure this is a case of “It’s not what you know, but who you know.” Because after all, it’s kind of tough to say NO to your niece. Especially when she’s the Valedictorian!
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Now there are only three things that I’d like you to remember from my talk today. Just three simple things. Things I wish I’d known when I was sitting where you’re sitting today – and ok, I’m old, that was 36 years ago…!
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THE FIRST THING IS THIS: Don’t settle for just any future – create your own!
I keep a small crystal ball on my desk at work with an inscription inside by Peter Drucker that says: “The way to predict the future is to create it.” That simple quote is one of my favorites – and it’s one that I try very hard to live by.
You know, I’ve always been intrigued with what makes people successful. And early on in my career, I devoured books like “The Power of Positive Thinking” by Norman Vincent Peale, and “The Psychology of Winning” by Dennis Waitley. And I read them or listened to them over and over again.
And still, to this day, whenever I hit an obstacle that seems insurmountable, I pull them back out and read or listen to them yet again – listening for new answers.
And through MY study of winners in life, one thing became abundantly clear to me, very early in my career: I needed a game-plan for life. In order to be successful, in order to have the life I wanted, I’d need to have an idea of where I was going, and practice getting there. Rather than allow the future to just happen, or to let someone else create MY future, I needed to accept the responsibility and accountability for creating MY OWN future, and practice the game-plan.
And I’m asking you today to do the same. Create and then practice your game-plan for life, just as you practice Guitar Hero or anything else. Where do you want to be in 10 years, in 20 years? What is it that you want to be known for? What do you want to accomplish in your life? Create a “bucket list” of at least 100 things that you’d like to see, or do, or experience before you “kick the bucket” – and then go after them.
And as you practice your game plan for life, try to wrap it around your passion. Your calling. Another book I like is called “Happier,” by Dr. Ben Shahar. In it, he says that you’ll find your calling at the intersection of these three questions: What gives you meaning, or a feeling of purpose? What do you enjoy doing? And, what are you really good at? Triangulate those answers and you’ll be on your way to good things — in your work and in your personal life.
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And so for me, it was flying and electronics…
Ever since I can remember, I wanted to fly, and I wanted to be an electrical engineer. I guess it was the influence of the space program as I was growing up. I can still remember to this day, the feeling of absolute awe I had as I was lying on the floor of our den in July of 1969 — the summer before entering Pacelli as a freshman — watching a fuzzy, snowy, black-and-white TV picture of astronaut Neil Armstrong walking on the moon.
The technology required to pull-off such a feat as landing on the moon, and the boldness and fearlessness of the astronauts trying to get us there – captured my imagination. From that moment on, I knew that technology and flying would somehow be in my future.
And so, when I was your age, I wanted to be a pilot in the worst way! The only problem was, flying was a very expensive proposition – and I had absolutely no money. So to create my pilot life, when I was a Senior at Pacelli, I found a flight school, here, at the Columbus airport, and we worked a deal so that I could work for them, but instead of a paycheck, I got flight lessons.
And 36 years ago, on April 17, 1973, I soloed an airplane for the first time. On June 29th, just after graduation, I passed my check ride to become a Private Pilot.
By the way, my first passenger after I got my pilot’s license was my girlfriend, Maureen Brown, also a member of the class of ’73, and who is now Maureen Brown Bowick, my wife for the last 32 years – and we’ve been flying together ever since. Now there’s definitely a life’s lesson in there somewhere!
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Likewise, on the career side, I set out to become an electrical engineer – and this started fairly early in life. During grade school and high-school, I studied electronics constantly. I set goals to get every advanced FCC amateur radio and commercial radio license I could get.
And before you completely dismiss me as one of Pacelli’s biggest nerds, please indulge me in letting you know that I was also Quarterback, Captain, and MVP on the football team – and so at least I was an athletic nerd. And all the while I had this burning passion, for electronics and flying.
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But after graduating from Georgia Tech with my degree in Electrical Engineering, I very quickly realized that while I was an OK engineer, I was MUCH better at leading technology teams. I guess it was the Quarterback in me…So I created a game plan that involved leading. I wrote well over a hundred technical papers and magazine articles, as well as a couple of technical books. I volunteered to speak at industry conferences, and serve on industry committees.
I went back to school, after 20 years, and got my MBA. I sought out increasing levels of responsibility and accountability that would ultimately lead me to become the Chief Technical Officer of a $9 Billion telecommunications company. And on June 30th of this year, just 45 days from today, I’ll FINALLY realize yet another part of the game-plan, to retire early from THAT post — at the age of 53.
But on both the flying and career fronts, there is still so much more that I’ve yet to achieve, so many more goals that I’ve yet to attain! And so “retirement” for me certainly won’t be — just the couch, the TV, and a bowl of nachos. Yea, I’ll relax a little bit, but I’ll also continue to focus on the bucket list and create my own future in retirement – full of new goals and aspirations.
And so remember, don’t settle for just any old future, create your own!
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The second thing I’d like you to remember today is this: Feel the Fear, and then do it anyway.
I’ve often been amused by the T-shirts and baseball caps that you always see around boldly proclaiming “NO FEAR!” And whenever I see one, I think, wow, what a great goal! I’d love never to have any fear or anxiety. But no matter how hard I’ve tried, I’ve just never been able to eliminate it from my life. And so, in some sense, when I feel fear about anything in life, there’s a piece of me which says I’ve failed in some way. There’s a piece of me that says: “You know, Chris, you really shouldn’t be feeling this fear. There is no place for it.”
But I’ve learned through the years, that it’s perfectly OK to feel fear. Fear can be a good thing. It can help us to be alert and focused. It can help protect us from true dangers in life. The bravest people you’ve ever known certainly felt fear in their moment of bravery. But what separated them from many of us was their ability to feel the fear, channel it – and then “do it anyway.”
Ambrose Redmoon once said that: “Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.” So go ahead and feel the fear, and then do what’s more important; do it anyway!
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Of course, one of the biggest fears in life, and the one that can do the most potential damage to your game plan, is the fear of failure.
But imagine what you could do. Imagine what you could be. Practice imagining how far you can go if you KNOW that you won’t fail. As Robert Schuller once asked: “What would you ATTEMPT to do if you KNEW that you couldn’t fail?”
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And yet, you’ll still fail. We all do, at various points in our lives. And if we don’t, then we’re probably not setting the bar high enough. So why not make the best of it, why not use failure as a learning experience, why not use it to improve our knowledge, to improve our character, and to help us set the bar even higher next time.
And so remember, be bold in all aspects of your life. Take some risks along the way. Feel the fear, and do it anyway.
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The third thing I want you to remember today is this: Change Creates Opportunity.
You can certainly create a wonderful, detailed game-plan for your future. You can be bold. You can harness your fear. You can launch your life plan, seasoned with a healthy amount of risk. Do it!
But you’ve also got to prepare for the many obstacles that will be thrown in your path.
Because you certainly can’t control everything that happens to you personally, but you’re in COMPLETE control of how you react to what happens to you.
If you’ve ever had any doubt that the only constant in life is change, just think about your own life for a minute. Hurricane Katrina in your Freshman year. In your Junior and Senior years: the meltdown of our economy, spelled out by the failure of our banking and credit systems; the real-estate collapse; and personal bankruptcies.
Certainly, these are all HUGE changes that have ruined a lot of well-planned goals, hopes and dreams for a LOT of people. There are no easy answers here, to be sure. EXCEPT that we always have control over how we react to what happens.
Some people will jump right back up, dust themselves off, and get right back at it, focusing on the future they still want to create. But some will simply wallow in it, which robs them of their ability to be happy and successful.
Change can also create chaos, especially amongst those who aren’t equipped to deal with change in the first place. And chaos, in turn, begs for leadership. So there’s an important lesson here too: People who can get a grip on change, and can lead others through the ensuing chaos, will find never-ending opportunities.
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As a pilot, I’m required to go through recurrent training on a regular basis. And as part of that training, whether it’s in my airplane, or in a simulator, I can pretty much guarantee that absolutely NOTHING will go as I’ve planned. I may map a flight from here to Hilton Head – in excruciatingly painful detail – but inevitably, from the moment I hop in the simulator, my sadistic instructor will begin throwing obstacles in my way: thunderstorms along our route of flight; failed flight instruments or failed communications or navigation equipment. And ultimately, somewhere along the route, I can pretty much guarantee that my engine’s going to quit – and, oh by the way, I only have one engine. So with red and yellow lights flashing on the panel and chimes and horns blaring in the cockpit, I’m forced to react to the changing environment, assess my options, create contingency plans, and make the best out of whatever I’ve got left that’s still working — all while safely flying the airplane.
There’s another analogy to life somewhere in there. ..!
Perhaps it’s that some of the most successful people in life are those who can accept change for what it is – inevitable. They adapt to their new circumstance, improvise a new solution to the problem, and then get on with completing the task at hand.
But it also again speaks to the importance of simulation and practice, practice, practice.
Pilots and athletes wouldn’t dream of executing their game-plan without extensive study, practice, and simulation.
So why is it so difficult for us to practice at life? Why don’t we take a cue from pilots and athletes and visualize our game-plan for life, simulate achieving our goals, imagine the possibilities, and anticipate the obstacles and changes in our lives that could distract us from reaching our goals?
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And so in conclusion — you can probably tell by now that I’m a firm believer in creating a game-plan for life, being bold, and finding the opportunities that come with change.
But I’m sure some of you are probably thinking that it also takes just a little bit of luck – and that you’ve just gotta catch a break every now and then to be successful. And to some extent I’d have to agree with you! I’ve certainly been lucky in my life and in my career, and for that, I’m very grateful.
But I once read that: Luck is that place where opportunity meets preparation. And as Thomas Jefferson once said, “I’m a great believer in luck, and I find that the harder I work, the more I have of it”.
And so: “when from her portals you have gone”, I would challenge you to go out and create and practice your game-plan in life. Feel the fear and do it anyway. Be wide open to change and the opportunity it brings. And good luck!
Thank you.
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