Chase “your” dreams
A few months ago I found myself having a coffee in town on a Saturday morning chatting with an old school buddy who I hadn’t see in thirty years. We had connected on LinkedIn and it was as if those thirty years had disappeared in a flash.
I always thought he was “sound”, one of the good guys and in truth not a whole pile had changed – both of us had done a lot of living in between but we were essentially the same two school mates – we had a good laugh recalling stories about our teachers and football matches we had played in. I had a photo of our “winning” team in some school tournament and there we were the two of us in our red kit!
Both of us have done well in our varied careers and he was in the early stages of a new online project – by the end of the conversation he asked if I wanted to come on board with the project utilising our expertise on some type of a shareholding arrangement. In a few years the plan was to sell the business and we would all make good money. Hmmm ….sounded good.
After this me met a few times and got down to business and delved into the nitty gritty of his project and our involvement in it.
While his project was really interesting to my surprise I found myself not being as enthusiastic as he was about it. Why was this I was asking myself?
Like every great “driver” he was pushing me for our plans and input. I did this of course but I discovered his project wasn’t my No.1 priority. My clients and our own projects motivate me and this project just wasn’t having the impact that I was expecting.
It wasn’t a client and it wasn’t “my” project.
My buddy needs more than 1,000% from me and everyone else involved in the project for it to be a success. I realise this more than anyone.
Before we damaged our friendship we gracefully concluded our arrangement and that was cool with both of us. We’ll meet again for coffee soon – probably in about another 30 years!
It’s important that we spend our time chasing our own dreams.
Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion
Fuzion are a Marketing and PR firm with offices in Dublin and Cork
