GREATNESS TAKES PLANNING

Photo courtesy of Columbia Pictures 2006 (Scene of The Pursuit of Happiness movie)

"Do not see successful people as enemies who stole something from you. Get closer and learn from them"

One of the traits most associated with our Latino identity is the absence of a planning culture. In pleasant meetings with friends, surely more than one of us will have told about his own unplanned birth; sort of an "unforeseen event by his parents." From that same group of friends, it is possible that more than one started a life as a couple at an early age, stayed with their parents and had children. How many of your acquaintances, due to various circumstances, decided to work from a very young age and pursue higher education long after starting a family? This state of affairs is so widespread that we have decided to assume it as normal. Apparently, we want to reap the fruits at the beginning and plant the seed at the end, with all the difficulties that this may entail. This speaks to us of improvisation as a way of life; "Make it up as we go along".

Let's face it. It is a fact: EVERY PERSON WHO HAS ACHIEVED SUSTAINED SUCCESS OVER TIME HAS REACHED IT THROUGH A LIFE PROJECT. On the other hand, those who make improvisation a lifestyle are actually sowing misery, failure and sadness, which will be reaped by them in their old age or worse still by their offspring. Provided that the mental attitude determines the course of a person's life, we find a simple but POWERFUL fact: certain attitudes generate success while others are the cause of failure. While many people curse and condemn those who, with their attitude, manage to succeed in life, others, more cunning and less bitter, prefer to approach and ask how they achieve that success.

In one of the scenes from the moving film THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS, the central character Chris Gardner, played by Will Smith, presents us with the portrait of a man living in extreme poverty, but with an unbreakable spirit, walking down the streets of Wall Street. On his way, runs into a very elegant gentleman stepping out of a brand-new red Ferrari. At that moment, his immediate reaction was to approach and ask: Hey buddy! I have only two questions for you, what do you do and how do you do it? Chris didn't waste time envying him, or wishing him the worst, as many would. This ATTITUDE highlights a very important principle in relation to success: Do not see successful people as enemies who stole something from you. Get closer and learn from them.

"While many people curse and condemn those who, with their attitude, manage to succeed in life, others, more cunning and less bitter, prefer to approach and ask how they achieve that success"

Now, Chris Gardner, whose true story is told in the film, formulated a Life Project and executed it. His status as a single father living on the streets with a 5-year-old boy did not move him toward self-pity or frustration. Instead, it served as an impetus for him to prepare for and apply for a position with a large financial solutions company that required apprenticeships to train as executives. Not only did he manage to become the best of apprentices, but over the years, Gardner himself would found his own finance company, valued at millions of dollars.