Ever have a career flash forward?

Everyone should pick and read Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. Although it’s not a business book, I would highly recommend it to anybody because it’s one of those books with many valuable lessons from the life of a very generous and fearless man - two traits that when combined can be very powerful in doing a huge amount of humanitarian good or help you become very successful in business.

Here is a quote from the second to last page of the book when Mortenson finds out he has the support needed from a powerful leader to continue with his mission and build more schools in the Afghanistan region:

Mortenson had always doubted that the entire life a person led could flash before him in the moment before death. There didn’t seem to be enough time. But in the second it took to look into Sadhar Khan’s dark eyes, and then through them, as he contemplated the vow he was being asked to take, Mortenson saw the rest of the life he had yet to live unreel before him.

How often does one experience the same type of flash forward with their work career when a life changing opportunity is presented to them? I could imagine entrepreneurs experience this type of moment when they get the funding needed to get their business off the ground or even when an employee find out about a major promotion or an exciting new job offer. In this case, Mortenson felt a sigh of relief from all the obstacles and hardships he had just overcome. He also felt a surge of confidence and excitement for the new challenges that lay ahead, which were very clear in his mind because of his experiences so far on his mission.

We should all hope to one day come across an opportunity like this, but of course nothing this rewarding ever comes easy. It will, however, hopefully come with a lot of hard work and dedication. The first step is to figure out exactly what you want to accomplish during your career and then to keep working toward those goals while constantly making new goals as you achieve old ones.

For Greg Mortenson, all it took was one unfortunate mountain climbing accident for him to see the opportunity to make a difference by building a school for the children of a small village in Korphe, Afghanistan. Once that first school was complete, he just knew he had to continue building more. I won’t go into detail about all his accomplishments and how much of an impact he has made to that region because its a book worth reading on your own. While reading it, make note of the impact one person can make and hope to one day be able to get as excited about your career as he was about his mission.