An Unwitting Impact on My Life
Back in March, when I decided to take a break from work, there was one person in particular that encouraged me to do it, unwittingly - Sir Richard Branson. Yep! My wife bought me his autobiography entitled Losing My Virginity.
What most impressed me about this book, and what makes him someone I would love to meet and have as a mentor, are the character traits that are described. His risk tolerance. His persistence. His philanthropic side. His human side.
They are described via various passages. The most memorable to me now, four months after I have finished reading the book, are:
1) the way he treated the families of the people who were riding a Virgin train that crashed
2) his desire to help solve world problems by wielding his influence and network of people to gather a group of elders.
3) his first business, growing Christmas trees, and the total failure (well the rabbits who ate them did make him some money)
4) his desire to lead in a given market, whether it was Student where he created his own paper rather than join a school paper or Virgin Atlantic where the level of service appears to be second to none.
5) his risk taking....as in the way he purchased his island after pretending to be a wealthy and interested buyer and being flown in by the realtor to see it....only for the truth to be revealed later (he wasn't loaded yet!) and being contacted by the owner a few months later.
6) his adventures in the balloons and his trust of the assembled the team.
Anyhow, I had been contemplating a change in my life for a long period of time when I was given that book in March. By the time I had finished it I had determined that I was going to take some risk. I have, and so far, don't regret it.
In life, you have to be true to your self and to your spirit. You must be aware of your dreams and attempt reaching them. To not let your dreams, self and spirit be squashed by other entities (people or organizations). Speak up, network, let people know the real you, go with your gut.
After reading that book, there happened to be a job posting for a Director of IT job at Virigin Atlantic. Working for an airline had been my dream since I was a kid and I was inspired by the book. Within thirty minutes I had written the most (I think!) amazing cover letter and submitted my CV. Somehow I thought I the job was in the bag. Well, we haven't moved to Crawley, England.
Anyhow...thanks Richard for touching my life and good luck with Virgin Galactic....by the way...how is the research on this new energy source going???
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