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Mega
Genius® Intelligence Briefing: A
Commencement Address to Michael Choose your vocation wisely, Michael: the universe is unforgiving. It seems that only yesterday you were small. You slept as I cradled you in my arms and laughed as I carried you on my shoulders. When you were five years old, I urged you to buy a ticket to the fun house at the Maui County Fair, but you would have none of that. Instead, you gripped your $1 tightly, until you invested it in a game of skill on the midway. I pegged you as an up-and-coming investment banker. Now, at age 17, you are enrolling in one of the top ranked universities in the world and soon will have to decide what you want to be. I will explain the most intelligent way to do that. It is the secret to preventing misfortunate from derailing your life, by guaranteeing that you are on track to get where you want to go. Freedom is having choices. Having choices means making decisions. You are considering entering the political arena or the field of geology. I am undecided, too; I am contemplating whether I should take up playing the piano or polo. Most people would say that I am too old for the latter, but playing the piano and polo are both just forms of communication, and I have never agreed to limit my communication because of what others may think. I have always communicated enthusiastically. Although I can remember much earlier, I recall, at age two, my mother telling me to “pipe down,” as my noise was interfering with my great-uncle Ben’s ability to tune our piano. You had pipes of your own, Michael. Do you recall, when you were five, I used to refer to your mouth as your “noise hole?” When I was five, my first grade teacher sealed my mouth with cellophane tape, in hope of teaching me to communicate less. She failed to achieve that objective. The world trains children to inhibit their communication, but it is a lesson I never learned. I also never learned to play the piano, although I have owned several. Maybe it is time for me to take up the piano. As a child, when people asked if I could play that instrument, I replied, “I don’t know; I’ve never tried.” Several world famous pianists have coached me. In 1968, I became friends with Liberace, through his manager, Seymour Heller, who had also represented many big band clients, including Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey and Guy Lombardo. Liberace, who claimed to play "classical music with the boring parts left out," was recognized by Ripley’s Believe it or Not as the “world’s fastest pianist” and by “Guinness World Records” as the world’s highest paid musician and pianist. By 1954, at age 35, Lee was already earning $138,000 for a single performance. When Lee and I first shook hands and I noticed how small his were, particularly compared to mine, I was especially inspired to play something. Accordingly, I learned to play several minutes of the allegro scherzando theme from Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor. Although I have occasionally impressed others with that ability, I confess that it is merely an automatic, unthinking exercise for me. I cannot play the piano with understanding. I probably cannot even play Chopsticks. (All this has suddenly taken a turn that I prefer not to dwell on, since it just makes me look bad.) On the other
hand, maybe I should learn to play polo. The
Federation of International Polo is headquartered in The Will
Rogers State Historic Park there is a beautiful area, a few blocks above Sunset
Boulevard, with a commanding view of western Los Angeles, Santa Monica and the
Pacific Ocean. It was originally the
private estate of Will Rogers, the celebrated humorist, highest-paid actor in In 1944, I probably
should learn to play polo. For
decades, I was also a close friend of the late C.D. LeBlanc, a legendary polo
player. Few knew that his real name
was Clesmey D. LeBlanc. Everyone
called him C.D. (we can all figure out why). He
was a consummate gentleman, though rough around the edges.
But then, polo can be a rough sport.
Once, after Will Rogers had broken a couple of bones when his hand
collided with a horse’s skull, Rogers observed, “They call it a
gentleman’s game for the same reason they call a tall man ‘Shorty.’”
For decades, C.D. owned a spacious ranch near the Will Rogers Polo Club,
where he allowed members of At an early age, C.D. discovered the value of communicating effectively. In 1988, over Thanksgiving dinner at his ranch, he told me that as a young orphan he had teamed up with an older mentor to learn the real estate business. One day in the 1940s, while cruising through Beverly Hills, his mentor had abruptly pulled his automobile to a stop in front of a spectacular house and suggested to C.D. that they might encounter a financial windfall by buying the residence and its contents, repackaging everything, and then selling it all for a profit. In those
years, Betty Grable was the top pinup girl for American soldiers and the
highest-paid female star in Harry James was a trumpet virtuoso and the first famous bandleader to hire the young Frank Sinatra. Harry was also the husband of Betty Grable (some people have all the luck). The celebrated couple lived in that spectacular house. C.D.’s mentor told him, “This is the home of Harry James. Go up there and ring the doorbell. If he is home, point to me here in the car and tell him that I am your business partner and that we are prepared to offer him $100,000 in cash for his house and everything in it. We don’t want his toothbrush, but we want all the furnishings.” (At that time, $100,000 was equal to about $1,178,000 in today’s funds, using the consumer price index.) Young C.D. gulped, walked subserviently up to the house, and rang the doorbell. The renowned bandleader himself opened the door. C.D. boldly announced, “Good morning, Mr. James. I am C.D. LeBlanc and that’s my business partner in the automobile, and we are prepared to offer you $100,000 in cash for your house and everything in it.” “Well,” Harry James replied, eyebrows rising. Then sizing up the young stranger and his well-dressed partner in the expensive car at the curb, the famous musician continued, “Ordinarily I wouldn’t have the slightest interest in your offer, son, but my wife and I just had one holy hell of a fight. Tell your partner to come on up here. Let’s talk business.” They quickly agreed upon the terms of the sale and Harry James pocketed the cash. Young C.D. and his mentor got the house, the land, and all the furnishings, including even the legendary bandleader’s personal piano -- which ended up in my house half a century later. Now I am back to considering learning to play the piano, again. Now that transaction may appear to have been especially fortuitous for C.D. and his mentor, but it was actually the result of a thoughtful assessment. It can be advantageous to think. The person who does not bother to think has no advantage over the person who is unable to think. The trick is to think as intelligently as possible, Michael, for your life will be the sum of your decisions. Let’s look at some of the workable laws that pertain to your upcoming decision to be, or become, something. First, you should reflect on your past, with the intention of identifying any purposes that you have had that you became discouraged about due to the criticism or ridicule of others. Basic purposes that have been stifled will linger on life support, but they never die. Just the act of recognizing them today as basic purposes will magically resurrect them. Here is something else to discover about yourself. When you were a young child, Michael, I am sure you wanted to become something specific when you grew up. If you recall what that was, you will realize that it was something particularly helpful. It is true of all young children. For example, little Julie may long to be a princess, or Johnny may want to be a comedian, or Billy may imagine himself as Batman. In fact, Julie wants to be helpful by being a role model, Johnny wants to help others by making them laugh, and Billy wants to help by saving people from all sorts of maladies. Their common denominator is that they want to grow up to become especially helpful. Helping is what healthy children want to do when they are young. So, what happens? Life happens. Twenty years later, Julia is an assistant manager in a hardware store, Jonathan is a stand-up comic, and William welds doohickeys onto widgets. All three occupations are somewhat helpful, but guess which person is the happiest, never feels that he works a day in his life, gets the most satisfaction from his occupation, and incidentally becomes the wealthiest. It is Jonathan, who followed his heart and continually helps others by making them laugh. (Actually, I am thinking of my friend Jonathan Winters, who became one of the world’s most successful comedians.) Second, take advantage of your greatest abilities. Your occupation should make use of the best gifts you have. A wise person uses, and refines, his natural talents. Third, you should do something that you love doing, that you feel passionate about, and that electrifies you. Then you will reap abundant rewards, probably including wealth, since you will “work” so fervently. You do not need to feel so fanatical about your work that, as you awake each morning, you sit upright on your bed, burrow your fingernails into your thighs, and growl like a wolverine, but it is essential that you find and tap the fire within yourself. It is there. Fourth, realize that life consists of being, doing, and having. The word being means the assumption or choosing of a category of identity. An example of being would be your own name. Another would be your chosen profession. Think of it as what you are. The word doing means action, accomplishment, the fulfillment of purpose, the attainment of goals, or any change of position in space. Think of it as action you perform. The word having means owning, possessing, or being capable of commanding, positioning, or taking charge of objects, energies or spaces. Think of it as what you get. One has to be something … in order to do something, in order to have something. The order always progresses from be, through do, to have. For example, looking at it backwards, to have a polo trophy, one must do well playing the game, by first being an accomplished polo player. Proper “being” is followed by effective “doing” and, consequently, successful “having.” Therefore, Michael, to identify an overall purpose for your career, complete this sentence: My primary objective is to have …. Then you should ensure that the activity in which you intend to engage would actually lead to the objective that you want to have. Then you will know what you need to be. Subsequently, you will be what you need to be, to do what it takes, to have your primary objective. Just watch! Your peers will choose their vocations backwards. Each will decide first what he wants to be, which will then resolve what he must do and, unbeknownst to him, determine what he will have. That is like a captain establishing the course for his ship, without ever having determined his destination. That is why few people ever get where they actually want to go. It is the reason almost everyone agrees that life is what happens to you while you are making plans. Before you decide what you
are going to be, and do, select your primary objective. Here, in 100 words or less, is the best advice that I can give to you, Michael, or to any other young person who needs to decide what to be, or even to anyone older who wants to realign his vocation, pursue a new occupation, or just chose an avocation. Forget about what you need to be. Instead, decide specifically what you want to have, so that you can determine what you need to do to have it. After that, you will know what you need to be. Ensure that you are using your best natural talents in an activity that you are passionate about, so that your work is never drudgery, but a delight. Ensure that what you do is extremely useful to others, for your helpfulness will be how they will measure your value when they write your obituary. For example, Will Rogers taught Americans to laugh at themselves in the economically strenuous 1930s. That was so helpful to people that when he died in a plane crash, in 1935, The New York Times devoted four pages to his demise. To increase your value, increase your helpfulness. As for myself, I think I will pass on the piano, for now. I may not have the physical finesse anyhow; I once accidentally broke a $100,000 museum-quality tribal sculpture. (I will not be dwelling on how I did that, either.) At this time,
I do not own a piano and, frankly, I have been apprehensive about playing one
ever since I think I will pass on polo, too. At this time, I do not own a horse. In addition, I have an allergy to breaking my own bones, and the sport has always seemed pretentious to me. As Will Rogers wrote, “Polo is played by us lazy ones, because the horse does all the work and we love to just go for the ride.” Instead, I think that I will yo-yo more fervently. I have dozens of yo-yos, including a $50 Coral Snake, by Henrys, and a $100 401k, by YoYoFactory. Admittedly, I am not yet an expert, but I have had personal instructions from all four National Yo-Yo Grand Masters -- Dennis McBride, Dale Oliver, Dale Myrberg and Bill de Boiseblanc -- and, most importantly, I like the objectives of setting a world record in the sport and helping others to laugh by yo-yoing for them. Of course, most people think that I am too old to be playing with a top on a string. Nevertheless, yo-yoing is just another form of communication. The easiest way, Michael, to become derailed from the track of controlling what you be, do and have, is to limit your communication because of what others may think. Early on, I established that it took more than an authoritative adult with a roll of tape to suppress my communication. Never allow the world to inhibit you, either. Regardless of
what you decide to be, you will be only as successful as you can communicate effectively.
Will
Mega Genius® April 22, 2008
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