Blue Oceans Ahead
So, last Saturday was the big event. The day my son had been working on for nearly a year, the “Blue Ocean Competition” for the state of Maryland.
It was the climax of hundreds and hundreds of hours of effort on his part, and countless hours from his committee and sponsors.
The thought that crossed my mind all day was…
WOW… it takes an amazing the amount of effort to create a meaningful experience.
He passed up playing on the basketball team this past year to make Saturday possible, to bring an idea to life, to engage people to support it, to plan it, to fund it, to participate in it, and to run it.
One of the absolute truths of life for me is that we as human beings constantly underestimate the amount of time that it takes to create something of value, to grow a business, to grow anything successfully, to grow ourselves.
It takes time and it takes stamina.
As the day went on, I couldn’t help but jump between thoughts of harmony and disharmony.
My son is so very mature, responsible, ambitious and level headed.
In two years – he took an idea into an event that touched hundreds of lives and was ultimately tweeted multiple times by HBR (Harvard Business Review) with nearly 2 MILLION FOLLOWERS… over and over again throughout the weekend.
In the words of Dr. Renee Mauborgne, co-author of Blue Ocean Strategy, who came down just for the event and gave the keynote speech (paraphrasing from memory), “I know you were all inspired by our book, but I must tell you that no other event or activity has inspired the entire team and staff at Blue Ocean across the world than the MD Blue Ocean Competition. YOU INSPIRED US!”
She was intense, gracious and focused on the power of Blue Ocean Strategy. I love that she is pushing Blue Ocean Strategy (that is very much a business concept) into life in general. I find that virtually every powerful business discipline and concept and book has tremendous opportunity in the real world, in our lives, in our families…
I sat back and fought disharmonious thoughts of “I wish I had done more media to get more people to the keynote” and others like it.
I was aware of what a tremendous accomplishment that the event was for students and for my son.
I was grateful for our dear friends and colleagues that made it a priority to participate.
I was proud of my son, and I was perplexed by how much I struggled in the moment with all the ways that the event could be taken to the next level.
This is where my thoughts of IS and ISN’T and their affect on harmony became apparent.
Staying in the IS… I hang on the pride and awe of all of it.
Yesterday my oldest was admitted to Stanford University. I knew it was hard to get in. I was reading a Time magazine article before going to bed that said essentially that thoughts of wanting to get into Stanford in today’s world are a “hallucination.” It is supposedly the hardest University to get admitted to, in the USA.
He knew it all along. Basketball wasn't his priority. He told me himself. "Dad, I wasn't going to make a material difference on the basketball court. My priorities this year was to keep my grades up (he's gotten straight A's all through high school - a feat of stamina in itself), spend the right amount of time in the application process for colleges, and make sure Blue Ocean happens successfully."
He is wise beyond his years and ambitious enough for the both of us.
Proud is not a big enough words to describe me.
People tell me what a great job his mother and I have done, but I know the truth ;-) There is a fire in my son that he fuels and fans on his own. I know that my wife and I have had an influence on him, but he deserves this moment and all the glory.
His initiative and independence is admirable and his achievements are a result of his dedication and effort.
Who knows where he will end up going?
Who knows what will happen to the Blue Ocean competition?
Who knows what the next chapter and the next moments will bring?
All I know is that in this moment, I am so deeply proud of my son. Not because of his grades, or because of his ambition, or because of his acceptances…
I am proud of him because of his character and his stamina and his relentless effort…
I am proud of his relentless and focused effort to achieve and to leave the world in some way better for having him in it.
Grateful for the IS… full stop.
Blue Oceans Ahead!
Yours in harmony,
Nestor