If you believe it!

Some succeed because they are destined to, but most succeed because they are determined to.

Henry Van Dyke

On September 12, 1962 at Rice University in Houston Texas, President John F. Kennedy stepped up to the podium and delivered a speech referred to as, “We choose to go to the Moon”. In my opinion, this is one of the most inspiring speeches I have ever heard.

In his speech, President Kennedy said, “But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas? We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.”

Now take a moment to pause and reflect. In 2021, it is easy to read that and not fully appreciate the vision President Kennedy was casting. For context, this speech was delivered in 1962 at Rice University to a crowd of over 40,000 spectators. President Kennedy was talking about sending a man to the moon. If you have never listened to the speech, let me focus on few things to provide a greater perspective.

President Kennedy informed the crowd of the specifics of his plan stating, “we shall send to the moon, 240,000 miles away from the control station in Houston, a giant rocket more than 300 feet tall, the length of this football field, made of new metal alloys, some of which have not yet been invented, capable of standing heat and stresses several times more than have ever been experienced, fitted together with a precision better than the finest watch, carrying all the equipment needed for propulsion, guidance, control, communications, food and survival, on an untried mission, to an unknown celestial body, and then return it safely to earth, re-entering the atmosphere at speeds of over 25,000 miles per hour, causing heat about half that of the temperature of the sun--almost as hot as it is here today--and do all this, and do it right, and do it first before this decade is out.

Now, can you imagine what had to be going through approximately 40,000 individuals’ minds at this time? In 1962, I can promise you I would have been saying, “you’re crazy Mr. President and I am rather upset that you have me out here in this heat to hear this non-sense.” So where am I going with this?

I once heard a speaker say that we should set our goals so high that they scare us. Michelangelo wrote, “The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low and achieving our mark.”

I think too often in life we fall short of achieving to the levels we were built to accomplish. Most often, the single most defining deterrent is the fear of failure. The word failure can cause more fear than an encounter with Freddy Kruger himself.

Let me first say this…I try very hard to remove the word failure from my vocabulary because I abhor the word. I don’t allow my mind to settle into the concept itself. I believe that failure happens in only one circumstance and that is when we fall and fail to get up... We always have the option and the opportunity to rise and either go at it again or find another path.

Getting anywhere or accomplishing anything always starts with that first step forward. I don’t know of anything that has guarantees of immediate success. When we all started that scary activity of learning to ride a bike, we did so aware of the possibility of falling. But we all took the risk by taking the training wheels off and ultimately, we learned to ride.

The level of our success is in large part determined by the reality in which we set our goals. To be as bold as the challenge that President Kennedy put in front of the nation may not be the most logical thing to do. But, being bold in our own desires, we should not shy away from those challenging goals either. If we believe in ourselves; if we are willing to put in the work with grit and determination, we can accomplish anything that we set out to do.

The things that I have accomplished in life have always come with the thought of the “downside,” including those in business as well as in my personal life. However, once I take the training wheels off, I don’t think I have ever thought about failure. In fact, I know that I am on record for saying that anything that I set my mind to. I will succeed! That’s the high-level belief I have in myself. Don’t get me wrong, there have been many scary moments.

I just have a simple saying that, when times get difficult, I will figure it out. Fear and nervousness will always exist. They are part of the fabric of life and of decision making, however, strength, courage and self-belief are additional fabrics of life and are much more powerful than the former. I live my life believing in me more than you will ever believe in me. Failure just isn’t an option because I don’t allow fear of failure to exist.

By the way, on July 20, 1969, man walked on the moon. President Kennedy’s very bold ask of the nation was accomplished within the decade he promised. I can only assume the success was due to the strength, courage, and a belief of many who refused to allow the challenge to be rooted in the fear of failure.