“Earthquakes and Sharks to Start Us Off”

One of my favorite songs on my Ipod is “Earthquakes and Sharks” by Brandtson. The song talks about the warnings of Mexico and California. You know “black bears, heat, polluted air.” Don’t forget about “traffic jams beyond compare.”

Last July the song’s complaints were once again verified with a 5.4 earthquake to the LA area. This was my six or seventh earthquake, but one I would not soon forget. News reports say it lasted a few seconds. Everyone I talked with agreed it felt like a few minutes. The thing about earthquakes is you don’t know how long they will last or how big they will be. I have no shame in admitting that I was scared. Thanks to structural engineering, my house out lasted the quake with no damage.

Immediately after, the news was covered with stories on earthquake safety, dangers and projections for “the big one.” Even so, I still don’t worry much (you'll read more about lessons to learn from Van Wilder ). My main motivation is that I know that I live it up every day. I have no regrets. The earthquake reminded me why I chose the career path I did. I chose three years ago that my career path would not direct me to run the Boeing Company, but instead to develop the future leaders. “All you take with you when you're gone, is what you leave behind.” I spent the majority of last summer speaking with hundreds of Boeing interns on their future careers. I would start with identifying their likes and dislikes, then determine their goals and the motivation for them, before finally setting action plans to achieve those goals. Bill George, author of True North, says that when you work in the area motivates you the most you are operating in the “sweet spot” and perform your best.

Life is short, live your dreams. I do every day. Thanks to everyone who has helped me get ranked at the top of Nike's Believe in the Run Contest. Contest is still on going.