Remember the important things!
By Naresh Asnani
My wife & I recently attended the YPO Global Leadership Conference in Sydney Australia. The four days we spent in this conference were incredibly exciting and inspiring. We met with leaders from all over the world. Most of them were great personalities. They were over achievers who had done so much in their businesses, maintained balances with their family and many were also playing major roles in creating social changes in the world around them. I walked out of that company determined to become more like some of those leaders who greatly inspired me. Specifically, I walked out determined to:
•Build my company to Greater Heights.
•Change the Lives of the People I came across.
•Make a Difference to the Community I work in.
•Tall Goals that I was determined to achieve.
For the next part of our trip to Australia, my wife and I had planned to spend a week together and the highlight of this week was a 4 day cruise on the Great Barrier Reef. On the first night we encountered the most deadly storm I have ever experienced. We were sitting around in the upstairs bar having a drink getting to know our new colleagues who were to be our companions for the next 4 days. Suddenly, the next thing we knew, the boat started rocking violently. Glasses and bottles flew across the room and were shattered. Furniture was hurling all across the room. Everyone was clinging onto something to prevent being swept across and overboard where the huge waves were violently lashing our boat.
We rushed back to our cabins where we lay in our beds waiting for this storm to pass. I must confess that while lying in bed, I experienced Real Fear of my life! What if this was it? Was this how it was going to end? And genuinely believing that the end might be near my mind went racing to all the unfinished business that lay before me and yet to be completed. What about my dreams to change the World? At that moment none of these seemed to matter. They all seemed so insignificant. The only thing that mattered to me most was my three children who were home with my parents. Had I spent enough time with them? Had I taught them enough to prepare them for the world? Had I made provisions to ensure they would be secure through their childhood years? At that moment when it seemed like my life was flashing before my eyes; the only thing I wanted to do was to go back and be there with my children. None of the other ambitions seemed to matter.
The storm did finally calm down and next morning we recovered with the ship making a stop at Cookstown in Northern Australia. On the streets of Cookstown we noticed a painting of a family eating fish n chip with a small message under the painting: “Fish n Chips; a Cool Sea Breeze; a Beautiful Sunset with all the family; who could ask for more?
An important lesson I learnt from this hair-raising experience is that no matter how high your goals, no matter what you want to achieve: Don’t Forget the Most Important things!