Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” -John Lennon
I often wonder what it must have felt like to see the Beatles play live in Hamburg in the early 1960’s before they hit it big, or live in Silicon Valley in the 1980’s when their culture was just beginning to develop. To witness the beginning of something truly remarkable. To feel the anticipation build and watch a movement grow. To be in the right place at the right time. To invest in the next big thing while the rest of the world is still asleep.
But how many of the people living in 1980 Silicon Valley, California and 1962 Liverpool, England “got it”? How many were open-minded enough to recognize that they were witnessing greatness?
The Beatles weren’t “discovered” overnight. The innovative founders of the group spent years creating content, developing their brand, pitching ideas and hearing the word “no” until someone was smart enough to make the investment of a lifetime. 99% of the people in the right place at the right time, listening to the still-undiscovered “greatest band of all time” band did nothing to capitalize on it.
How many of the 99% complained to their friends that they were just an “unlucky person” that “nothing good ever happens to” while John Lennon sang “Please Please Me” just a couple of yards away and they didn’t even notice?
And how many of those same people later bought every Beatles record and memorized the lyrics to every song after savvy marketers told them it was good? How many identified themselves as a person who heard the band before they made it big, embellishing the story as the years went by?
La vida es buena but you have to open your eyes, your heart AND your mind to see it. Innovation is scary but fun. Risky but rewarding. What if George Martin and Brian Epstein hadn’t invested their social and financial capital in the Beatles? What if Stanford turned out amazing ideas in the 1980’s but no one commercialized it?
You don’t have to be creative to innovate but you do need an open mind and positive outlook. Stop thinking and start doing. Your world is full of opportunity and ready for you to make an impact today!
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