The Day That Everything Changed
Can you recall the pivotal moment when you took that very first uncertain step along the path you now follow? Do you remember what went down?
In my case, one such moment happened at 12:51 p.m. on May 21, 1999.
On that sunny Friday afternoon, a 20-year broadcasting career came to an abrupt end. After delivering the 12:30 information package on CFQM Radio, the boss – and once close friend – calls me into his small office and hands over a terse termination notice. Two blunt sentences on company letterhead made it Black Friday in one cold heartbeat.
Before long, it’s a trip to the unemployment line. Broke. Busted. No severance package, no prospects, and hoping not to be recognized after getting canned from a high-profile position. Went home and faced public flogging with the story of my dismissal plastered on the front page of the only newspaper in a two-station town. Soon afterward, reporters are calling my home number.
There was no way of knowing how the events of that day would eventually make the heavens open up.
To be sure, that particular May 21st was nothing like the one enjoyed in 1927 by Charles Lindbergh when he piloted the Spirit of St. Louis and became the first to fly solo across the Atlantic. On the same day, five years later, Amelia Earhart touched down in Ireland and became the first woman to accomplish the same feat.
Looking back, it is brutally clear that being handed the pink slip that May 21st not only meant a loss of income, but also a complete loss of personal and professional identity. And even though you were just one of a number of senior guys being let go by a company opting for younger, cheaper talent, it didn’t make it any easier to swallow; not when you have to put bread on the table.
Putting the pieces back together meant taking a leap into the complete unknown of soft-skills business training before a new path emerged, helping business leaders discover their true identity with a brand story they could slip into like a pair of comfy blue jeans. When Jim Gilbert became Canada’s Huggable Car Dealer, that incredible success story became something much bigger than just marketing. It went a long way towards regaining professional self-respect and personal self-esteem; secure in the knowledge that you could develop a proven process to help others stand in their emotional truth.
Enough about me and my story. What’s yours?
What happened on the day that changed everything for you? What was the defining moment that explains the path you have followed and the road you travel now? Who was with you and what thoughts were on your mind at the time? Think back and think hard because stories from people like you for a future book project about how the biggest decisions in our lives often happen in the form of situations and choices that seemed insignificant at the time. Allow me to explain.
In the spring of 2016, a speaking tour of the United Kingdom found me staying in a bed and breakfast about 4 minutes from the first tee at The Old Course in St. Andrews, Scotland. Up until that day, ambivalent and indifferent would have been a deadly accurate way to describe my feelings towards both Scotland and golf. Never had any great desire to visit the country or fall in love with the game. But things started to change on that day when I began picturing what it must have been like for Jimmy, a Scottish schoolboy champion who left home in 1957 to pursue his dream of turning pro. It’s a story I’ve known my whole life, but until that day, it was one I never fully understood or appreciated.
Like any complicated father-and-son relationship, there were decades of ups, downs, and well, complications. However, that visit to St. Andrews sparked a healthy curiosity about a man who said very little. He likes to let his game do the talking. Beginning when he was a pre-teen, Dad won over 100+ tournaments in his career but kept the trophies hidden in boxes in the basement. From that day forward, I made a point to arrange a golf outing at least once a year knowing we only so many were left. With Dad in his late 70’s, there was no way of knowing that the wanderings and reflections from that day would repair and cement bonds between father and son that produced magic in the form of an annual four generational foursome that now includes my father’s grandson and great-grandson.
Ironically, my St. Andrews visit that changed how I saw my father and the footprint he has left on the world occurred on May 21, 2016. Is that a mere coincidence or further proof that the Lord does work in mysterious ways?
You don’t have to pass the ultimate test described in Matthew 4:1-11, when Jesus passed the ultimate test and rejected great temptation after being led into the wilderness and fasting forty days and forty nights.
You don’t have to fly solo across the Atlantic or get fired from a high-profile gig to discover your defining day.
Sometimes, the seemingly smallest moments in our lives magically become some of the biggest.
I would love to hear the story about yours.
The day that everything changed.
“The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life; and the procedure, the process is its own reward” AMELIA EARHART
p.s…. Would you be willing to write an essay of 500 to 1000 words about the defing story that explains where you are at right now? If you take up this challenge and strike while the iron is hot, carve out some time and send me your completed work by midnight on May 21, 2022. My direct e-mail is gair@gairmaxwell.com I honestly have no idea what will transpire as a result of this exercise, but a whispering voice is telling something magical might happen.
BIG LITTLE LEGENDS.
Released in November of 2021 through Vancouver-based Page Two Publishing, the book with the magical cover is now available through AUDIBLE and Wal-Mart. Appreciate the groundswell of support that continues to flow in from Real Readers just like the Calgary-based, husband-and-wife team of Michael and Paulette Curtis.
“Heroes get remembered. Legends never die” BABE RUTH
YOUR BRAND. ON TRACK.
If now is the opportune time to discover the brand story and strategy uniquely your own, consider exploring a metaphorical road trip called THE BRANDING HIGHWAY. Our Executive Bootcamps serve as a journey and destination to help your brand emerge as an undeniable, undisputed, "Category of One.” Along the way, you will discover how to create substantial Differentiation and strategic Relevance for your brand while aligning your executive team. Impossible to describe, it helps to take a quick peek at this Video Overview:
“The most important victory is the one which has to arrive” ENZO FERRARI
PLANNING A SPEAKING EVENT?
The wheels of business turn faster each quarter, and your company or industry association may be anxious to stay ahead of the lighting-fast relevance curve. In that respect, we are scheduling many in-person and virtual programs for 2022 with customized content designed to inspire conference attendees to acquire a “STADIUM-SIZED PERSPECTIVE.”
For more information on scheduling an In-Person or Virtual Speaking Program, please send us a note here: bookings@gairmaxwell.com.
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“I hit it again because that shot was a defining moment, and when a defining moment comes along, you define the moment... or the moment defines you” ROY McAVOY