April 20th, 2010 by SaltySailorMan
I met Rob two years ago through a business acquaintance who told me; “You have to meet this guy Rob, he is a high energy business man and spiritual-guy type.” I was immediately skeptical. “Spiritual guy” hmmm… Not my type. I’m what you might call a hardened New Englander. An old Yankee who thinks spiritual thinking belongs on the ‘Left’ Coast. One who values self reliance, pragmatism and intellect. I thought ‘Spiritual’ was anathema to my East Coast upbringing. Well, after meeting Rob, I was surprised to see that we clicked. I found Rob’s philosophy to not only be pragmatic but in essence in line with my values. When Rob told me; “If it aint practical, it aint spiritual” I knew I was awakening to a new conversation. Rob has taught me a lot and has given me a platform to express what I have learned. I’m still a work in progress — but trust me; I’ve come a long way.
In Praise of Blissful Ignorance
Is it possible to be ignorant enough to succeed at business? Can a person actually not know that he can fail… and thus succeed? What if I spent all of my time imagining that I would succeed at my first business… instead of spending all of my time worrying about failing? I lost $15,000 in the pizza business because I was a worrywart.
Do you think that you have to get a business degree from a fancy school to be a rip roaring success? I just read a statistic that said most whopping successful businesses are still owned by people who have no business knowledge when they begin the business.
I think maybe there is an intelligence that we can tap into that guides us if we allow it to. What do you think about that? Have you ever done anything right just because you believed you would – no other reason? Lately, I do that a lot. I got a hunch and invested in my neighbor’s invention and got a twentyfold return in a year. Not bad! Any stories you can share?
Is this like ‘beginners luck’? When I first started playing Poker I was beating all my pals who had been playing for years. They really started to hate playing with me because I kept winning and didnt really have a clue. Now I’ve pretty much leveled out and have much harder time winning even though I understand the game 100x better. I was way better when I didnt know a thing about Poker
I guess ignorance can be bliss. I am graduating next month and I don’t have a clue what I will do next … but I feel excited about the possibilities.
I love the idea, Salty, of not knowing I can fail and succeeding in spite of all the logic that the world may throw at me … saying ‘NO WAY!’
Hi Salty Sailor,
I think the best way to succeed in business is to have a lot of common sense about people. This is not something that I think can be learned from a book.
And I definitely think it is an advantage to be somewhat ignorant/naive. It can mean you are not focusing on everything that can go wrong and instead on what needs to be done to make things right. When we focus on the positive, we usually get more of it.
I also think it’s important to follow your instincts.
People knowledge is definitely a plus, Greg, when it comes to succeeding at anything in life. KNOW THYSELF … you are part of the people crowd, Greg. When you come to really know yourself, you know all of your fellow men.