A Straight Line
As this column is being sent out to newspapers, magazines, and online publications around the world, I am sitting backstage in an arena getting ready to walk out onto the platform where I will be speaking to approximately ten thousand business people. While speaking at arena events is among my most favorite activities within my work routine, traveling to these events—particularly as a blind person—is among my least favorite tasks. However, this trip is dramatically different.
I have a great friend named John Reaves. John is a successful entrepreneur whom I greatly respect. Recently, John and I and our wives were having dinner together, and John mentioned one of the things he has on his bucket list is to go to one of my arena events so he can have the experience of hearing me speak to thousands of people in that kind of setting. John has heard me speak before, including an event I did for his company, but he really wanted to experience the arena setting. I was delighted that someone I respect as much as I respect John was willing to take the time and make the effort to travel to an arena event. I was even more delighted when he suggested we could travel on his jet.
I have traveled on private planes before, and the experience from take-off to landing is not dramatically different than traveling on a commercial airline. However, the ordeal before and after the flight is drastically diminished on a private jet.
As a general rule, I leave my house two hours before a commercial flight which allows me and my colleagues to get to the airport, park, go through security, and make our way to the departure gate. Then, assuming everything’s on time, we board the plane and fly to a distant airport. Unfortunately, the distant airport is rarely our final destination as the vast majority of commercial air travel involves a layover which I believe comes from the Greek word meaning “arriving somewhere you don’t want to be.” Then, because of my contractual commitment to be at a speaking engagement, I generally book at least a two hour layover before my connecting flight which eventually arrives at our intended destination. After we wait for luggage and arrange for ground transportation, we generally find that we have spent a minimum of ten to twelve hours getting where we want to be.
John’s private jet can make the same trip in approximately forty minutes, and we park our car and load our luggage right next to the plane. Then, three quick steps up into the jet, and we’re on our way. This dramatic difference is not because a private jet is significantly faster than a commercial jet; it’s because a private jet travels in a straight line. You may remember from your high school geometry class that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. This is true in air travel, and it’s true of you and me as we look at our personal and professional goals. If you are currently working on a multi-step plan that you believe will bring you the success you want, the best way to reach your goal faster may not be to rush through each of the steps but, instead, to reconsider the entire journey and eliminate some of the steps entirely.
You may have heard the ancient wisdom that tells us there’s no shortcut to success. While this may be true, there is often a direct route to success and a straight line between you and where you want to be.
As you go through your day today, chart the most direct course to your destiny.
Today’s the day!