"I can do that?"
I've written about getting on a plane before. Traveling to meet a someone who can influence your business is such a cool unlock.
This email isn't just about that. It's about permission to do things like it.
I was checking into a hotel last Saturday. I'd been traveling for about 40 hours (missed connections, yada yada) and felt like a bag of bones. It was 8:20p and I felt like collapsing. So when the young guy behind the counter asked what brought me to the hotel, I probably sounded half drunk.
"Travel for work," is what I think I croaked, but who knows how it sounded.
"That's cool. What do you do?"
"We have a software company."
"That's amazing! What does your software do," he asked. Now staring at me like he needed to know.
I explained what we're building. He loved it. Well, he loved the idea of building a business. It was his last night at the hotel, he said, he's starting his first civil engineering job on Monday.
"Can I ask another question?" he said.
"Sure."
"What's one piece of advice you'd give your 20-year old self?"
I felt like laughing. I was tired and literally had just flown half way round the world. I mumbled some LinkedIn wisdom, thanked him, and went off to my room.
After setting my bags down and realizing how hungry I was, I took a walk to find food. All I could think about was this young guy's question and how I put no effort into my answer. I felt like a dick.
My co-founders and I just spent the week in Ireland where we went to meet people who could alter the course of our business. We got on the plane. I thought that might be a better answer for this guy.
As I walked back into the hotel, bag of takeout dinner in my hand, the young guy came around a corner.
"Hey," I said, "forget what I said before about advice to myself. I forget who taught me this, but it's changed the course of my businesses several times."
He stared at me.
"Get on a plane. Don't wait for permission to meet the people you know will help you grow. Even if they don't know you."
"Like, meeting a mentor?"
"Anyone. Who do you want to meet? Who do you need to meet? If they're in Sydney, tell them you're going to be in Sydney next Tuesday and ask them for coffee (even if you hadn't planned to be there)."
"I can do that?"
He was excited. Genuinely excited that he could do this. Something clicked for me as he looked back at me.
You can give people permission to do weird things.
You have permission to do weird things.
Once you have permission, the weird things no longer feel weird. In fact, it starts to feel weird to not do those things.
What permission are you waiting for?
Peter
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