“Some people see the thing that they want, and some people see the thing that prevents them from getting the thing that they want.” —Simon Sinek I once watched a video of Simon Sinek, multiple best-selling author and popular public speaker, that truly inspired me. He tells the story of when he and a friend ran in Central Park. At the end of the race, a sponsor gave out free bagels, and a long line of runners waited for their free bagels. Looking at his friend, Simon said, “Let’s get a bagel,” to which his friend replied, “Nah, the line’s too long.” Simon responded incredulously, “Free bagel?” “I don’t want to wait in line.” “Free bagel!” “Nah, too long...” He realized you can see the world in two ways: 1. You can only see the bagel, i.e., the result—the success, the impact you can create, or 2. You can only see the line—the obstacle. In the end, he went straight to the box of bagels and got one without waiting in line. Nobody got mad at him because nobody waited longer to get theirs; he did it without disturbing anyone. As Simon said in the video: “You don’t have to wait in line. You don’t have to do it the way everyone else has done it. You can do it your way. Break the rules. But you can’t get in the way of somebody getting what they want” (Winspire, 2017). This story illustrates what many of us are facing every day. We often have an idea, and then we see the path to market, the regulations, the competition, and how hard it will be to raise the money to pay people so they can work with us. This is the long line, the obstacles. Most of us get discouraged by it—including me, for some of the projects I started in the past. However, there is always a way. Sometimes, we can take shortcuts, such as going to other markets or building partnerships to overcome the competition. Some rules can be broken without hurting anyone.
Winspire Magazine. “The Story of Free Bagels by Simon Sinek - Winspire Magazine.” April 6, 2017. Video, 2:20.
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