Live Your Dream

By Joel Block

One of the great aspects of being an entrepreneur is that it affords us the opportunity to live our dream. No matter how crazy the dream appears to be in the opinion of those around us, there isn't anything that any one of us can't do, as long as we can define it, and as long as we're willing to take the steps that are necessary to actually make the dream come true.

I was having lunch today with a long-time friend, and he was telling me a story about one of his friends who loved the water. Now, we live in southern California, and we were having lunch at the beach, at a restaurant that overlooked the Pacific Ocean. The waves were crashing and the sky was blue. In fact, there were even some dolphins swimming in the background. And he told me of a friend who just couldn't get enough of the water. This person lived in a sea-side community, but didn't work in the same community where he lived. He actually had a business job in another part of town, another sea-side community about ten miles away that required him to wear business attire.

This gentleman was so passionate about spending his day at the beach that he came up with an interesting idea. He did not enjoy getting in his car and driving on the freeways just to fight the traffic, which can be especially ferocious in the sea-side communities because the streets tend to be narrow and the traffic tends to be voluminous. So instead of fighting this daily traffic, this gentleman figured out a way to pack his business suit into a waterproof backpack. He would pack the backpack, strap it onto his back and then jump onto his jet ski to ride across the wide-open ocean to get to work.

He would drive about ten miles on his Jet Ski and then park in a slip that he rented in the other community. Then he would go into a bathroom, take a shower to get the salt water out of his hair, put on his business suit, pack up his wet clothes, and go to work. At the end of the day, he reversed his pattern.

There isn't anything that we can't do as entrepreneurs. We just have to be willing to be creative and imaginative. And then we have to use a little candle power to figure out how to make the dream come true.

So, as you are working hard every day to build your company, or as you're building your career, be creative and live your dream. If you can think of anybody who is more creative than somebody who wants to take a jet ski to work and change into business clothes from water clothes every day by using a waterproof backpack, then I encourage you to write me so I can tell a story about that person. But for now, that person gets my "dreamer of the day" award. And I encourage each of you entrepreneurs to do the same.

About Joel G. Block