This past week I have been reflecting on the thought of living an authentic life - a life that is genuine to me and my passions. I was able to meet Peter Buffett as he came to perform at the Bellevue College Luncheon that I co-chaired. I found Peter to be musically gifted and a very genuine spirit. He shared a story with us that caused me to reflect on my own life - my personal journey.
Peter told the story from his book, Life is What You Make It, about when he went to college at Stanford and after 1.5 years of school he still did not know what he wanted to do with his life. One day he inherited $90K from his grandparents and told his father, Warren Buffett, that he wanted to take a year off to persue his music. His father encoraged him to do this, helped him write a budget, and he left Stanford and moved to San Francisco to work on his music career. He ended up having a very happy and successful career and never returned to Stanford. I was impressed by his parent's approach of telling their children to pursue their passions. They explained that Dad's (Warren's) passion was investments - but that Peter and his sister would need to follow their own passions. This gave him the courage he needed to create his path in life. Peter later mentioned that if he would have kept his $90K in Birkshire Hathaway stock it would be worth $70 million today. He did not flinch when he said that living the life he designed was worth more to him than the $70 million.
I am so happy that 5 years ago I decided to pursue my passion for helping people and entrepreneurship by becoming an Executive Coach and starting HumanPoint. I took a risk going out on my own, it was not easy, it was very stressful and scary to venure out, but today 4 years later I am so glad that I did. Today I love my job, my clients, and the experiences I have each week.
My question to you is- are you living your passion? If not, what are you going to do about it?
It is like the Chinese proverb: When is the best time to plant a tree? 20 years ago. When is the next best time? Today.
I think that pretty often we forget that life is what we make it and usually say that it is not up to us.
Posted by: property inventory london | October 17, 2011 at 05:12 AM