Today was a remarkable day. There are a handful of moments in my life that will forever stick out in my mind as great moments. Watching both my Mother and Sister get married, the Yankees winning the World Series in 1996 (2009 was pretty sweet too), signing the agency representation contract for the novel I wrote with my closest friend Kevin, watching as the poles closed in California and America had elected it’s first black family into the Whitehouse… these were all great moments. These are times that will never leave me until the day that I die.
Today, another great moment was added to my list.
Though he will remain nameless for the purposes of my blog, I had the extreme honor, pleasure, and amazing opportunity to speak one on one with one of my greatest idols on the phone. As a world renowned economist, investor, businessman, and financial mind he is someone I look up to both for his business savvy, his public demeanor, and his influence on the entire world.
Since I did not ask permission to name him in my blog, I can’t say exactly who he is. But turn on CNBC, flip open the Wall Street Journal or Forbes, or the Financial Times, or The Economist… he’s in there. I have kept one of his more famous quotes printed and hanging from the wall in my office since I started my career.
I won’t get into too much detail on how I came into this opportunity (it was a friend of a friend’s brother’s former roommate’s uncle type situation) but the idea that I had 10 minutes on the phone with this man was truly remarkable.
I asked him a few questions and we talked about the current state of affairs in the world, but there was one answer he gave me that really struck me. I asked him, if you could give me one piece of advice or one rule to follow as I progress through my career, what would you say?
His answer:
“For me, I always had a deep faith. Though I didn’t always get to church on Sunday morning, it always guided me both in business and in my personal life. My faith kept me grounded. Through the tough times when I couldn’t afford new shoes for my first job interview, through the great times where I went on to acquire that same company years later, I could always turn to God for the support I was looking for. I suggest you find something that will keep you equally as grounded.”
His advice was so stunningly simple; I almost didn’t know what to think of it. He didn’t tell me about investment strategy, or long term financial principals… he let me in on a piece of himself I had never heard him speak about before. (I’ve probably read all of his opinion pieces and articles, as well as his official biography).
My views on religion are beside the point. The point is a great and successful man whom I truly admire chose to share with me something that has helped guide him to the incredible successes he has accomplished. I realize now that it’s not about investment strategy, or expensive, fancy graduate degrees from world-renowned education institutions. It’s about finding something that you can turn to no matter how good or how bad things get. Once you have that something, you can ride out any storm until the skies are clearer again.
And just as a quick side note. If you assume a 40-hour workweek than his 10 minutes on the phone with me were worth roughly $256,410. For me however, the 10 minutes on the phone were absolutely invaluable
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