Initiative

One Idea

No longer in their mother’s care, two polar bears sit atop a drift of ice hungry for a meal. The older brother tells himself, ‘eventually a seal will come.’ So, he sits–doing nothing–waiting for the magic moment to arrive.

The younger sister decides she can’t just sit around. The water is cold, and the sea is dangerous. But, she knows that if she wants to eat, she has to hunt. So, she dives in.

It takes her three trips, and on the third, she emerges with a seal. Cold, wet, and out of breath, she doesn’t go hungry that day. Her brother? Doing nothing did nothing for him, and he doesn’t eat.

Nobody asked Thomas Edison to invent the light bulb, nobody asked Amelia Earhart to fly across the Atlantic, and nobody asked Nelson Mandela to stand up against apartheid. No matter; they did anyway.

Maturity, in part, means taking responsibility for your life. It means not needing somebody else’s permission to do something meaningful with this moment.

Stop waiting to be told what to do. Take initiative, do the work, and persevere until the end. Your future is your responsibility.

Two Quotes

“I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do.” - Leonardo da Vinci

“I prayed for twenty years but received no answer until I prayed with my legs.” - Frederick Douglas

Three Takeaways

1. Your best work–your greatest contribution–isn’t going to be your boss’ idea. Who are you waiting for? Whose permission do you think you need? You don’t. What’s on your mind and in your heart isn’t going to come from anyone else. Speak up. Reach out. Take the risk. 

2. Act like you’re invited, because you are. Very few people get to be here, but here you are. You’re supposed to be here. There’s no reason to act like you don’t belong. You do. So act accordingly. (This is perhaps the most common conversation I’ve had with student-athletes over the years.)

3. Don’t settle for being held accountable; take responsibility. A bunch of guys over the years have asked me to hold them accountable for various things. Sometimes I agree, sometimes I don’t. Either way, I always tell them the goal is to graduate to responsibility. Responsibility means being accountable not to another, but to yourself.