Wisdom and how to get it?

Wisdom and how to get it
We all have mentors in life; although often we are not aware of the role they are playing. My first mentor in life, of course, was my father. He was a man that led by example. He never asked anything of me that he wasn’t willing to do himself. He was a brilliant journalist, a man that worked for several newspapers in his life, one of them, some of you might still remember, El Imparcial. He wrote many “who is who” books that are still treasured by people all over the world. Fate played a dirty trick on him when he was 83 but still very healthy and active.
He had an appointment with his Ophthalmologist on April 12, 1993 at 10.00am. The Doctor’s office called at 9am saying that his appointment had to be postponed because an emergency came up and the Doctor was on his way to the hospital. That evening, at 6.00pm, my dad got into his car, to go and buy some dinner for my mother and leaving the house, he either didn’t look left or looked and didn’t see a car coming, and he was hit on his side, killing him instantly.
The car that hit him wasn’t actually going that fast, but it was an old Cadillac 1969, probably the only car that could have killed him, because that car is very big, lots of metal, and it has pointed edges, one cutting right into his door.
I guess that when your number comes up, there is nothing you can do.
That same day, I was in Moca, doing a seminar for executives on Interpersonal Managing Skills for Sensormatics, now a division of Tyco, a manufacturer of security equipment
After my session at 5pm, the head of human resources was asking me to give some personal counseling to one of their executives who had the awful experience of losing his little girl because of a fall on her gymnastics class.
I was certainly willing to do that the following day, but never had the chance, since my Dad was killed that same afternoon, in fact, only minutes after I had been asked to help the executive.
“Such is life” as the saying goes, a very popular choice of words thanks to the New Progressive Party.
Some of the things my Dad said to me when I was very young I still remember. “Don’t take advantage of people”, “Always be fair” and a very valuable one, “Don’t worry twice”.
He would ask me if I was prepared for the final exam, I usually was and he would say, “don’t worry twice”, in other words, don’t waste your time and energy on problems that may never arise or that there is no solution.
When I mentioned that I didn’t know what to do with my life, he would say, “work hard at whatever you do until you find your passion and then you will never work again”. Why did he say I will never work again if I found my passion? Because when you are passionate about something, it is not work. It’s like having fun, doing what you love, the day ends very fast because you enjoy what you do. Yes, my Dad was right, I did find my passion and I have never worked another day in my life, I just have lots of fun doing what I do.
A very important lesson I have learned in life is to break down problems and challenges into small components. Most issues in business and I may add in life, are fundamentally simple, even though they may appear complex at first sight. To deal with them, you have to examine what is beneath the surface and figure out what is really going on. Never assume that the real issues are those you see on the surface. Look at the basics first and define the problem.
When I get interviewed, in fact, just a few days ago by a syndicated radio station, I get asked if there is a formula for success.
Is there a step by step formula of a specific set of rules people could use to achieve their goals?
There isn’t any, rather, there is a way to think that allows someone to deal with many different situations in life and take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves.
It is true that having this mentality isn’t a guarantee that you will succeed but it definitely improves your chances quite a bit. You win more than you lose and the longer that you are playing the game, the more often you come out on top.
I always say that there is no guarantee because a friend of mine comes to mind. He is brilliant, very smart, knows a lot of stuff, yet whenever he is close to making a big hit, something happens and he loses. Anything he touches goes south. The idea might be great but when he tries to implement it, it doesn’t work. If he trains someone in his business, that person will leave the business and take his clients. If he goes into a new field, at the beginning it goes well and then something happens and he loses. I always tell him that he will never become a loser until he stops trying. As long as falls down but he gets up again, he has never lost, because maybe, just maybe, he will land a lucky punch and win.
In business, as elsewhere some individuals have natural talents that allow them to do better than others. We can’t be all Michael Jordan, Roger Federer, DaVinci or Shakespeare, but anybody can learn to play basketball, tennis or learn how to paint or write a book, and we can all learn how to be financially self sufficient as well.
We all have a different definition of success. What we do have in common is the desire to find our passion, have happier, richer, fuller lives for ourselves, and create a better world for our children, grandchildren and friends.
Go out and find your passion. Get a mentor or mentors to give you some ideas, some words of wisdom, and then follow your heart.