Most car rides back from the beach follow a pattern of looking out the window, listening to music, thinking, stopping for some bread of la “carretera,” looking out the window, listening to music, thinking... This car ride was a little different.
My aunt asked me what I was planning to study in college. “I’m leaning more towards business but am also interested in education,” I said. When I explained that what worried me about business was that I thought you needed a very strong personality to be successful at it, and that was something I didn’t really have, my uncle—who doesn’t tend to talk much—told me I was wrong.
He explained that he believed there is not a single recipe to success in business, but there are certain ingredients that help yield good results. “Perseverance”, he said.
My aunt asked me what I was planning to study in college. “I’m leaning more towards business but am also interested in education,” I said. When I explained that what worried me about business was that I thought you needed a very strong personality to be successful at it, and that was something I didn’t really have, my uncle—who doesn’t tend to talk much—told me I was wrong.
He explained that he believed there is not a single recipe to success in business, but there are certain ingredients that help yield good results. “Perseverance”, he said.
When my uncle was about 21 years old, he was unemployed. He came from a middle-classed family, loved art and design, but he hadn’t found a job and was in desperate need of one. So he started cleaning pools. He would knock on home doors, but most people would give him one look and then slam the door on his face; it wasn’t usual to see a middle-classed man offering to clean your pool, he explained. As the years went by, however, he continued knocking on people's doors, and as he learned a lot about pools by cleaning them, he managed to combine what he learned with his passion for design and art to create Blupools, a company that builds and designs pools, fountains, and water pumps. It was then when the same people who had slammed the door on his face started calling him for his service.
Perseverance, he repeated. That’s a key ingredient.
He then went on to explaining that when he first started cleaning pools, he spent a long time debating with himself whether what he was doing was right. People told him he was crazy, his parents were disappointed in him, and although he wasn’t sure what all of this was going to lead to, he did know that whatever he ended up doing, he wanted to be the best at doing it. The opportunity cost in terms of his time was huge; he would spend hours cleaning the pool and made very little money.
Perseverance, he repeated. That’s a key ingredient.
He then went on to explaining that when he first started cleaning pools, he spent a long time debating with himself whether what he was doing was right. People told him he was crazy, his parents were disappointed in him, and although he wasn’t sure what all of this was going to lead to, he did know that whatever he ended up doing, he wanted to be the best at doing it. The opportunity cost in terms of his time was huge; he would spend hours cleaning the pool and made very little money.
As he started developing his business, however, this opportunity cost payed off. The fact that he had always strived for a well-done job, created a sense of loyalty between him and the people he was serving. He had a reputation of excellence. And it is this reputation that has allowed him to continue serving some of his same customers twenty years later. Some people, he told me, are very lucky; they’re successful without having to do much to be successful. But there’s something about success that is a lot more gratifying when you know you’ve worked your butt off for it.
The last thing my uncle told me was that whatever I end up doing, or choosing to study, I have to make sure that I can visualize myself doing it today, and 40 years from today. Just because I picture myself pursuing two different careers does not mean that I have to pick between one and the other. He too loved the idea of education but he never studied it. Part of his job now, however, involves traveling around South America to train the people that work for Blupools. So the question is, do I see myself pursuing teaching as a career, or as a by-product of the career I can have in business?
PERSEVERANCE.MASTERY.VISUALIZATION
If you have those three ingredients, and you combine it with everything you’ve been taught at home: honesty, respect, trust, humility, you're bound to be good at business or at anything you set your mind to doing.
Those where his last words; it was one helluva ride home.
Those where his last words; it was one helluva ride home.