This past Sunday while watching the Denver Broncos-San Diego Chargers game, I couldn’t help but be reminded of how important pure enthusiasm and drive are to success. As the game progressed, it was clear to me that Phillip Rivers’ incredible experience and talent were no match for Tim Tebow’s youthful exuberance and energy. Now I’m not saying that Rivers didn’t exhibit spirit and vitality, but what I am saying is that Tebow’s were simply more formidable.
What this reminds me of is how sometimes lack of experience and naivete can be real assets. When I look back at my own career, my best and biggest accomplishments never came when I had the entire business plan perfected or had the dream team assembled to execute something, but when I simply approached a project with raw enthusiasm. For example, if I had really understood the nature of the recycling system that existed in this country when I first got into the field, Code Blue/Greenopolis would never have existed. The obstacles to success would have appeared simply too overwhelming.
I could go on — but I think you get the point, which is: you shouldn’t let mere inexperience or discouraging words hold you back from something you would really, passionately like to attempt. The will to persevere and to win is often the reason that contenders sometimes come up, seemingly out of nowhere, and leave the more seasoned individuals in the dust (President Obama being a prime example). If you have the will to move mountains, you’ll move them – in spite of the naysayers who “know” how impossible it is.
I suppose what I’m trying to convey is that enthusiasm rooted in innocence can give you a real edge over expertise that’s apt to be hindered by familiarity with all the hurdles involved in achieving something. And one reason, perhaps, is the contempt that familiarity breeds – an attribute that to the uninitiated is no real impediment.
