Brick Walls Are There To Stop The OTHER People

There is a line in the song, Do You Believe In Magic that goes, “The magic is in the music and the music is in me.” And for many people that’s where their music remains, inside bottled up. They take their music to the grave. In their lifetime on earth, they never sung their song and never experienced the magic.

Dr. Randy Pausch was not such a man. He died last month, Friday, July 25. He was 47. Until I read about his death in the local paper, I had never heard of him nor had I reason to. He was a professor at Carnegie Mellon University located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. US News named Carnegie Mellon one of the America’s Best Colleges of 2008.The following thoughts aren’t about one of the best colleges in America; they are about one of the great men of our times, Randy Pausch.

Randy died before his time. He would say he died at his appointed time. Pausch, who was a computer science professor and virtual reality pioneer, died of complications from pancreatic cancer. His fame is the results of his “Last Lecture.” This lecture was part of a long standing academic tradition at Carnegie Mellon. After agreeing to give the lecture but, a month before delivering it, Pausch’s doctor told him that he was in the early stages of the terminal disease.
The book, “The Last Lecture,” based on Pausch’s last lecture became a No. 1 best seller with over 2.8-million copies in print in 29 languages. More that 6 million people have viewed highlights or the entirety of the 76-minute talk on how to make the most of life.

On achieving dreams, Dr. Pausch said, “It’s not about how to achieve your dreams; it’s about how to lead your life. If you lead your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself; the dreams will come to you.” Last Friday night, (August 1st), I watched Diana Sawyer’s interview with Randy and his wife, Jai. It is easy to see why Pausch has become a symbol for living and dying well.

Two of Pausch’s thoughts stand out. First, “Life is not complicated and it is not fair.” This is reminiscent of Epictetus statement that we must, “See things for what they are. Things and people are not what we wish them to be or what they seem to be. They are what they are. When something happens, the only thing within your power is your attitude toward it; you can either accept it or resent it.” (Hawg Blawg, July 4, 2008). Randy accepted his coming death.

Pausch’s second creative insight regarding brick walls is the basis for this article. “The brick walls are not there to keep us out,” Pausch said, “the brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the OTHER people.”

Brick walls, roadblocks, obstacles, however you describe adversity are the things that stand between you and success. Dr. Norman Vincent Peal described obstacles as, “What you see when you take your eyes off your goals.” Everyone at some time takes their eyes off their goals and hit a brick wall. It is not that you encounter obstacle but how you respond to them that determines failure or success.

Brick Walls—the economy, the weather, the competition, the market, or fickle customers—are not usually things we can change. It is easy to respond by blaming circumstances or other people for our inability to penetrate the walls. Blamers are best described as victims. Things happen to them. They usually have a love for the familiar. They have a build-in system that resists change. Status quo is their watchword. They accept the way things are, even if they are bad. For these people, the familiar is better than the unknown. What is on this side of the brick wall is better than what may be on the other side. These people are the OTHER people Pausch spoke of.

But the Pausches of the world welcome brick walls and enjoy the challenge of moving around, over, under or through them. They know the goal they seek is on the other side of the wall and nothing will keep them from achieving their goal. Unlike the victim, the victor welcomes change. He or She sees the obstacle as a challenge and the bigger the challenge, the more determined they are to achieve.

If you gave your last sales calls today, would your customers and prospects be left with the impression that you are a Victim or a Victor? Would they know that the music was still inside you and the brick wall had defeated you? Or , would they magically know that you had defeated the brick wall—you sung your song. One of the best of the motivational lecturers and writers, Napoleon Hill said it well, “Whatever the human mind can conceive and believe it can achieve.” Therefore, sing your song of success for everyone.

Hog Thought. Hogs know that brick walls are there for the competition, the people who don’t want success enough to pay the price. Hogs pay the price for success because they know success is worth the price.