Herman: John L. Herman Jr., Author

Quit Watching and Get in the Game..

The happiest times in my life are easy to spot. While nothing compares to having three wonderful daughters…adding two more children later in life when Maggie entered my life was another wonderful gift.

But…your children grow and become people seeking their own lives. And, as a father I wanted them to have the greatest opportunities for success, and happiness. Providing them with a well rounded education meant more than just sending them to outstanding schools. And broadening their outlook by exposing them to as many different adventures as possible was another helpful way to parent.

There have been many different chapters in my life…lots of sports activities as a child, reading endlessly as books were always in my world, becoming a jet pilot in the Air Force, spending time in government service working with juveniles, and then buying and selling more than three hundred companies in twenty years. But then it didn’t stop. There was the five years as an Innkeeper, then becoming the author of two books, and now starting a new career as a speaker. So many challenges, so many new startups. So, what is the one common thread in all of these activities and what is the lesson others can learn from it all? It’s really easy to spot it and to tell you about it.

It’s the feeling of challenge by just being in the game!

It’s a Saturday night, my wife and I are watching a movie…and both of us are pounding away on the keyboards of our laptops, side-by-side at the kitchen table…working and enjoying every minute of it. Knowing there is a path you are on…hoping to get to a desired goal…is where the happiness lies. Make no mistake about it…having a magazine article printed about you is wonderful, and making money from your efforts helps too, and wanting to be at the top of the hill with those that are already achieving what you seek are all happy feelings. But I am getting a spark out of life just doing the required mundane activities that will get me to the end of this path.

The joy I am feeling is that I realize each step taken is closer to that goal out there. Being “in the game” is what drives me. If Tom Peters is the best business speaker in America, then I must find the road to be his peer, unless I can work hard enough to even surpass him.

Since my own daughters sometimes read this, let me emphasize the point for them. When the journey to the goal is over it will feel like a million dollars…but even now, from way down the road from that goal…I am really enjoying the ride. Because I am doing everything I control to make good things happen, and that makes me happy.

• Posted: 17 September 2008
• Comments: 1
• Category: Running a business

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