The Scary Thing
Recently, one of my best friends was offered an opportunity to spend a couple of months in Buffalo, New York, helping to build the new stadium for the NFL team, the Buffalo Bills.
He’s a steamfitter and he usually works in and around New York City, a solid six to seven hour drive from Buffalo. If you’re not sure what a steamfitter is, I can’t really tell you, but it’s apparently super important and has to do with the piping behind the walls of a building or structure.
My friend was integral to the renovations of both LaGuardia and JFK airports (JFK is still being renovated) as well as hospitals, office buildings, and beyond. Their next big renovation around here, starting soon, is the US Tennis Center where the US Open is played.
However, before that, Buffalo was on the table. You see, the company building the new stadium up there is the same company as the one he works for downstate; but, they’re really far behind on the stadium, so they asked if there were a few rock stars who’d be willing to come up and live in a hotel for a few months to help them catch up.
This would mean leaving family (he has a wife and two young daughters) and friends behind, working six days per week, twelve hours a day, until they caught up. Of course, there are financial incentives and everything is paid for, but still, it was far from an easy decision.
He asked my thoughts when he was presented with the idea. I told him the following.
“I can’t tell you what to do, but I will say that every single good thing that’s ever happened in my life happened when I said yes to something that was risky, scary, and didn’t make a whole lot of sense. Plus, a small group of people are going to save the day up there. If I were you, I’d want to be on that list.”
My wife has a great expression. She says, “It’s always easier not to.”
She’s right. Doing the new thing can be hard. It can be scary. It may not work out.
I’ve started multiple companies none of you have ever heard of because they failed almost before we got started. But I don’t regret that at all. I got tested. I learned.
I’ve written six novels, but only two were published. That’s right, I spent hundreds and hundreds of hours, while other people were hanging out with friends and family, alone writing. With only a 33% success rate.
I took risks in each of those situations and more times than not, I gambled and lost.
Who cares?
Apply for that job you have no business applying for. Write that book you’re scared to death to write. Move to the city you’ve always wanted to move to.
Do the scary thing.
As for my friend, he said yes, and just got to Buffalo last week. He’s been sending us videos from inside the skeleton of the yet to be fully constructed stadium. It’s beyond cool. Because he’s a part of building something that will last for decades and bring joy to millions of people. And, because he did the scary thing.
