Imagine you woke up tomorrow complaining of chest pain, dizziness and faintness of breath. You call 911 and get rushed into the ER. They strap you to all these machines and determine you have had a heart attack.
They quickly page the cardiologist on staff. He rushes to your side, opens his medical bag, pulls out a jar of leeches and attaches one to your chest.
“Leave him on here for 24 hours, and you’ll be good as new,” he instructs with an air of confidence in his voice.
Are you frickin’ kidding me?
I’d be out of there so fast; it’d make your head spin.
We expect our medical care givers to stay current on the latest diagnostic equipment, treatment protocols, pharmaceuticals and surgeries. There’s not a practicing physician today who isn’t forced to keep up or retire.
So why do most people believe their education ends once they walk across the stage?
Technology and market places are changing at break neck speed. It’s almost a full time job to keep up with the “what’s next”.
My friend Robin Robins, marketing guru to IT companies held her annual Boot Camp last week. I was invited back to MC and judge her “Better Your Best” contest. Her most successful students competed for an Audi.
She brought in speakers like Lou Ferrigno, Nido Qubein, Tom Hopkins, Joe Polish and a fighter pilot from Afterburners.
The winner of the car owned an IT company wiped out by the Joplin, Missouri tornado last summer. His building was a pile of rubble. Within 72 hours he was operational from his basement. He still sent out his marketing and managed to have the best year of his business life.
After we awarded the car, I had dinner with the finalists, Lou Ferrigno, Joe Polish and the Afterburners pilot.
I felt like Michelangelo having dinner with the Illuminati.
Lou, hard of hearing since a baby, was sharing the results of a recent surgery to improve his hearing. You’ll need to watch the finals of Celebrity Apprentice to learn the amazing details.
The fighter pilot was telling us about the technology he used in Iraq. Ten miles away from a house Navy Seals were to invade, he and another plane are doing surveillance. He spots someone leaving the house and heads off to tail him. The Seals enter and their man is gone. This guy is literally chasing the target down from a jet in the sky and tells the Seals exactly where to go.
Joe was sharing some heady stuff some billionaires are working on like a printer that will print organs.
Crazy, mind blowing things. As excited as I was to be part of the conversation, I felt like an underachiever.
Fact is, I’m not. Neither are you.
However, we can’t rest on our laurels. We must sharpen the saw every day, so we can stay one step ahead.
In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king. Keep working on making the vision in that eye sharper.
