Carpe Diem

No one can forget the speech that Professor Keating gave his class of young upstarts in Dead Poets Society. Keating explained to the book weary nerds that success, more than anything, is predicated on seizing opportunity.

On Tuesday evening the MLB All Star Game was played. As with any sporting event, the pundits made predictions about the game. It was assumed that Matt Cain should not be starting the game nor should his 3 teammates. The telephone evangelists on sports talk radio believed that R.A. Dickey should be first to the mound, that Pablo Sandoval did not deserve to play 3rd base, and who the heck is Melky Cabrera?

The All Stars are voted in by the Fans. Here is San Francisco the fans took to social media to spread a viral campaign for the Giant's player nominations. Some were even bold enough to wear Milkman costumes. How is that fair that regular people would have a say in who plays in this important game? There are players more deserving that might be snubbed from playing this the summer classic. These Giants guys cannot be worthy of performing at All Star level simple because their fans are savvy...can they?

Yes, They Can!

Matt Cain pitched 2 scoreless innings, Pablo Sandoval hit a 3 run triple, and Melky Cabrera hit a home run that garnered him the game's Most Valuable Player. They paid homage to their fans effort by seizing the opportunity.

There is nothing unfair about honoring a process through proving you belong to be there.

In this life nothing comes easy and every day the competition gets stronger. We are all simply looking for an opportunity...to land that dream job, to partner with that prominent brand, to have coffee with the cute girl from our philosophy class.

Seize the Day!

Opportunity is a 2 way street. It takes just one person to see the truth in your potential and the stage is set. The person who holds the keys to the kingdom is always looking for the dark horse candidate that will work his/her butt off to prove they are worthy of the opportunity. How can you convince the decision maker that you are the right partner for that million dollar project? How can you find that underdog talent to provide a summer internship?

We talk until we're blue in the face about qualifications, strategy, and statistical proof. The greatest partnerships have been cultivated on the premise of someone realizing potential in someone else. It's the kid who slept in his car in front of a ball park to get a job at the ticketing office, it's the college drop out who sent code to the CEO of Google, it's the unemployed single dad who sold his car to buy a suit for a job interview.

Extraordinary talent is everywhere...software cannot pre-qualify them, hiring a proven candidate would be a safer bet, and they will require greater training. Ask yourself: do you want the person with a hundred options who will seek greener pastures once the road gets a little bumpy OR do you want the person whose been down the road and knows that failure is not an option.

Take a chance on someone, seize the day!

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave