Why Do this?
It all begins with an idea.
I will be the first to admit that I am not the type of person to make a big bold move in haste. In fact, being a parent to 4 kids, making a sudden career pivot is the absolute last thing that I could have seen myself doing. But, in fact, it was through that leap that I have found my way.
Hindsight being perfect, I can put all of the pieces together, but in the moment, I was completely blindsided. It was June 26, 2023. I was flying from Seattle to Austin to make my first hand-split, hand-planed, bamboo flyrod, and I had just shut down my work computer and set an out of office for the week. I wandered into the newsstand and walked around looking at things to buy for my flight that I didn’t know I needed. I walked out with nothing, only to get about 5 steps out and returned inside to get a magazine. I was flying by myself for solid 3+ hours, and with no kids to keep entertained I might be able to actually read something. HBR? Newsweek? Psychology Today? Nothing sounded good so I started to walk out again and then I came across a book, seemingly left on top of a tourist shirt display. Or was it left for me? I had read Lecioni’s Getting Naked many years before and loved many of his books, but this one I had never read, so I bought The 6 Types of Working Genius and got to my plane.
I was onboard and seated at 8:15 am, and at 9:34 sent 3 messages to my wife:
Not that you are going to read this book, but 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯 [with image of book cover]
Bought it at airport and 125 pages in. Will read cover to cover on this flight.
I think God put it in my hand for a reason. Will explain later
Deep down, that week while working long hours to make that flyrod, I was processing all the work I had been doing the last 20+ years and looking forward to the upcoming season. I came back from that trip different. I came back with a vision for starting something new.
I fully believe that I was meant to do this, and that book in the airport was just another reminder to go and do it. One of the things that put this over the top and convinced me to make the move? After I got back to Seattle, I realized that I wanted to also have the audio version of the book, and when I looked, I already had it, but had never listened to it because I got too busy with work!