This is Hard

My son will begin his junior year of college this fall.  In a recent dinner discussion, with a few life lessons thrown in, we talked about careers.  One approach is to discover something you are good at, find a company that needs those skills, and get paid for doing the work.

The other approach is hard.  Go out and find things that are insanely difficult and do those instead.  Figure out what nobody else wants to do, or is willing to work hard enough to do, and do that.  Discover what people want and provide it to them in an honest, creative, new, inspiring, and passionate manner.

And do it for yourself.

Ferdinand Porsche couldn’t find a sports car he liked, so he built his own.  Henry Ford started his own automobile company, despite being told by the The Association of Licensed Automobile Manufacturers (ALAM) that he wouldn’t be allowed to proceed.  Elon Musk founded Tesla Motors and despite overwhelming challenges the marque has hit its stride with success.  The automotive entrepreneurial success and failure stories go on, and on, and on.  It is the same in every other industry and profession.

Create unique value.

These father son talks are experiences a parent dreams about.  Those watershed moments in life when you realize you are no longer talking to a child but to an adult.  When all of the past accelerates in to the now and a flush a pride washes through your skin.  I fondly remember similar moments during 1,400 mile drives with my daughter taking her back and forth to college.

Fatherly advice.

Seek out and discover something so difficult that others can’t imagine doing it.  If you are going to build an empire, do it for yourself instead of someone else.  This is hard.  Extremely hard.  And it is worth every challenging moment.

What are you working on that’s hard and worthwhile?