My Approach to Achieving Goals

 It was Steve Jobs who inspired the permanent stamp that rests forever on the inside of my right arm. I know right, I am probably the only person on the face of this Earth who has a tattoo inspired by the man who put a dent into the universe…  At least mine isn’t this one! Mine is just a simple quote, taken from his Stanford commencement speech, and for whatever reason, it really resounded with me:

‘Connect the Dots Looking Backward’

What he was getting at with that part of the speech is simple. So many things in his life that led to whom he became were things that he never really knew were important at the time. The example he gave was the calligraphy class he used to attend when he was in college. At the time he had no idea how he would ever use it, but looking back, it planted the seed of the design driven culture that has made Apple such a staple in our everyday lives.

Seeing that tattoo every single day reminds me of what I took away from his speech and what I hope you can take away as well:

1.       Set Long-Term Stretch Goals.

·         I want to build and grow my own business

2.       But Don’t Endlessly Stress about How to Reach those Goals.

·         Live in the moment, not 5 years away from now

·         Do what gives you positive energy

·         Good things will come to you

A perfect example of this in action is the story of Matt Dickinson, someone I was introduced to this weekend at a big Italian wedding I was at. On a side note, as a French Irishman, I’m probably the only person in my entire lineage to try Grappa. Anyway back to the story, after graduating from Queens Commerce, Matt went to work in the real estate industry because he knew he wanted to, one day, own his own real estate company or at the very least ‘have a place where I could eat or drink for free’.

But Matt’s passions stretched beyond his ultimate goal. He always wanted to learn how to surf, as Lake Ontario never gave him that chance. Sadly, I think we can all admit that at one point or the other we didn’t act on what we truly wanted to do. But Matt wasn’t one of those people. After quitting his job, he decided to head down to Nicaragua to finally surf. The amazing part of this story is that while he was down there, the stars aligned, and him and a friend seized an opportunity to build a hotel in a small village outside the municipality of San Juan del Sur (check it out at www.maderasvillage.com). The rest, as they say, is history. I can also confirm that in fact, yes, Matt now eats and drinks for free.

Along with managing the hotel business, Matt has started another business in the village called Maderas Collective. It sells high end furniture by giving locals in the village first world resources to build products that they otherwise would not have been able to. If you’re a fan of social entrepreneurship, Matt Dickinson is the guy to talk to.

I think there is something to be learned from the stories of both Matt and Steve. I hope you take something from it, even if it is just a quick 5 minute break. Cheers, and thanks for reading!

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