I’ve a feeling that, as I talk to more people who have achieved success in one form or another, we’ll happen upon some interesting revelations. Maybe we’ll learn a thing or two and, so much the better, spark the odd discussion. Before I go on though, let me state for the record: I don’t claim to be an expert. And I most certainly do not have all the answers. So before anyone shoots me down, remember these are my observations – call them musings if you will!
With that out the way, here’s something I picked up in my interview with Captain Tom Bunn, founder of SOAR (for the treatment of fear of flying). You can read the full interview here, but after covering my questions we went on to throw around one or two ideas and theories which I thought merited further attention.
The thing is, if you’re going to make a go of anything in this life you’ll need a plethora of determination. Doubtless, there are the handful of benefactors who win the lottery, inherit a fortune from a great aunt they never knew, find oil in their back garden – you get the picture. But for the most part, nothing comes without hard work. We all look at those ‘lucky’ guys who founded such iconic establishments as Facebook, or throw out the occasional Youtube video and reap tens of millions of dollars from click-happy subscribers, but really: did they just stumble over their concepts by mistake? Of course not. They ploughed hundreds, even thousands, of hours into their pursuit, fell over a multitude of hurdles and, bloodied and battered, refusing to throw in the towel, finally reached their goal. There’s some truth to the expression, ‘Some day my ship will come in’, but these are the ones who’ve traipsed an often very long road to get to the docks; they’ve elbowed through the crowds and fought their way to the waterside. Your ship will come in like everybody else’s, but if you’re not in the vicinity of the harbour when it does, don’t think it won’t steam off without you.
So where does this tenacity come from?
Personally, I’ve tried my hand at a number of pursuits. Some have fallen flat, a couple have sputtered into life, but without fail, nothing walked up to me and offered itself on a silver platter. I can only imagine what my guests here on Secrets have gone through to get where they are. Were they born with such drive? Is it inherited? Why are some people unwilling to try, others frustrated by failure, while a handful of determined souls strive on and seemingly turn everything they touch into gold?
Well here’s a theory, and it’s not all encompassing because it only concerns one demographic – albeit a substantial one – but I like it. It makes some sense. In any case, for you lot across the pond from me, my American cousins: this one’s for you!
“It seems to me,” Captain Tom suggested, “that for a person to leave where they were born and raised in Europe, the UK, or Ireland, and expose themselves to a sea voyage in the 18th or 19th century, either family/community ties were not important, or they felt driven out by family or community or by economics. You and I noted that entrepreneurship requires a capacity to go it alone. So, the way that the U. S was populated, individuals who, estranged in some way, got used to being outside the mainstream and developed businesses or inventions outside the mainstream.”
Do you see the logic? You guys over the water, by the very nature in which you came to be there, have this inherited predilection towards going it alone, taking the plunge. Perhaps inculcated is better than inherited: it’s not a genetic thing, more a question of values handed down over the generations. Your ancestors left behind a way of life, for whatever reason, to pursue something better. That’s a brave step by anyone’s measure. Could it be that Americans on the whole, thanks to their forbearers, are better prepared to put aside fear of failure?
I know what you’re thinking: it’s not only the USA whose population was so swelled by immigrants. What about Australia, Central and South America?
Perfectly valid questions but quite simply I’ve not yet had the privilege of canvassing those folk. If you’re from one of those corners of the planet, jump in and let us know your feelings. Or maybe you’re a US citizen and you think all of the above is nonsense?
Before you reflect on these words though, consider this caveat: I might be taking this whole concept too literally. After all, you don’t have to up sticks and leave the country to face a new environment.
“Certainly you speak with entrepreneurs who have not made such journeys,” Captain Tom went on. “But I’m guessing they may have experienced some sense of estrangement in order to be prepared to do what they did.”
He’s talking about sexual orientation. Those innovators in theatre, dance, literature and painting who were estranged not from their homeland but from mainstream society as a whole. And when I think about that, I wonder if there are other factors we might include in that segregation; what about ethnic background? Religion? Disability? Aren’t there countless examples of trail-blazers throughout history who, for one reason or another, society had at one point shunned.
So what about Captain Tom? From where does a successful pilot, secure in the employ of Pan Am and United, find the resolve to go it alone – to start an organisation which to this day subscribes to theories very much against main stream thinking?
“Maybe from when I was a fighter pilot.”
Yes, prior to captaining airliners and ferrying passengers across the world, Captain Tom did a very different kind of flying, taking to the skies in the USAF’s first operational supersonic fighter.
“I was alone in that cockpit, whether I lived or died was down to me. Perhaps, with me, that’s where it came from.”
Interesting isn’t it? That no matter what your pursuit, chasing a dream can be a lonely journey. I don’t say that as an expression of pessimism: abandon hope all ye who enter the path of ambition. No, it’s just an observation and besides, we’re better off prepared right? Maybe we just need to get out and do it: don’t look for support or anyone to hold your hand along the way because it won’t be forthcoming and you don’t need it anyway…?
Image copyright Elena Ray | Dreamstime Stock Photos