Taking on the
Volcano
Robert M. Gignac
Taynac & Associates
54 Crawford Rose Drive
Aurora, Ontario
L4G 4R4
(905) 841-0837
I’m here today to talk about “The Volcano”. What is the first thing that you would feel if you were in the vicinity of a volcano that was almost about to erupt? Right - you would feel heat.
We all have things in our lives and businesses which because we don’t handle them, or deal with them promptly or properly, they begin to get - well - hot! How many of you have ever used the phrase “I’m in hot water”? That generally means that there is some situation, dilemma, or task that we have to deal with that we haven’t.
The Volcano is symbolic of the challenges that we face in life, the problems that we run away from handling. What does this mean to us? What volcanoes do you have in your life? If you found out tomorrow that you only had only 6 months to live, what would you do differently? Same job? Same company? Same friends? Same relationships? Watch television?
We continually need to be developing ourselves, changing, growing; these acts are all part of human nature. We are designed to grow and achieve. Unfortunately, we don’t want to hear that we have to change. We’d rather talk about our circumstances, about how hard things are, about why we can’t do it. We need to realize what we have in our hands.
I’m thinking of a story about the early African explorers who had come upon some small boys playing with golf ball sized rocks – a game similar to marbles. They offered the small boys candy, which they liked, and in the end the boys exchanged several dozen rocks for two handfuls of candy. What the boys didn’t know was that they were playing with large uncut diamonds. They had no idea of the value of what they held in their hands. Many times we as small business owners are like this. We are blind to the potential within our organizations and ourselves.
Why? Because we’re afraid to fail. Yet, we know we’re going to make some mistakes. We need to make some mistakes. The person who has never made a mistake hasn’t done anything serious yet. If you haven’t made any big mistakes, taken a serious risk, lost some serious money, then you haven’t started living yet. Take a chance. Have some adventure. Sometimes life will just happen to you – and you won’t have time to say “No!” - you’ll only have time to act, to take the leap of faith. Trust yourself. Know that everything will be all right. But I know, you’d like a guarantee. So fine, I’ll give you one – here is your guarantee:
“We all eventually die.”
It seems to be a little known fact; we can’t get out of life alive. It’s not a matter of “if”; it’s only a matter of “when”. That is life’s only guarantee (ok, perhaps taxes as well). Did you want me to tell you being an entrepreneur will be easy? Did someone tell you that running your own business was going to be easy? Did someone tell you when you were younger that life was going to be easy, only filled with great times and fun? If they did, I have some bad news for you – they lied!
Think for a moment about how would things be different for us if we were to act as if we only had 6 months to live – forcing us to live our lives now? We need to recognize this is the only chance we get. Try to take the leap every day, to jump in and see if life spits you back out. Remember, the only person that it has to make sense to is you, you’re the one for whom it will have a sense of joy and achievement…feel the heat, take on the challenges…GO GET YOUR VOLCANO!
Bio:
Robert Gignac is
the owner of Taynac & Associates, providing keynote presentations, seminars
and workshops on personal development, motivation, and leadership. He is also the co-author of the Canadian
best seller “Rich is a State of Mind” available in stores now. Reviews and a
sample chapter are available at www.richisastateofmind.com. To book Robert to
speak at your next event, please contact him at: rgignac@taynac.com or check
their website at www.taynac.com.
Copyright Taynac & Associates - 2003