Tag: limitations

I keep finding success on the other side of the warning signs.

I drive a Ford Expedition Max. It’s one of the largest passenger vehicles on the road today. I love it for road-tripping with my family. I love it every time I pile large quantities of humans inside. I love how much stuff I can stuff inside it. I love it when I’m pulling trailers. (And I love the tush warmer on a chilly day.)

But there are trade-offs to driving a big vehicle. Like parking in underground parking garages. And I park in an underground parking garage every day at my office in downtown Milwaukee.

The Warning Signs

My parking adventure begins the moment before I pull into the parking garage. The top of my truck smacks the max height indicator dangling over the vehicle, warning me that the rig is too big for this place. This happens every single day. And when other people see me smack that thang, it freaks them out. #SmackItUpFlipIt

The adventure gets really interesting once I find a prospective parking space. As I begin to maneuver the Expedition into a slim parking stall, the driver assistance warning system blinks and beeps like a bomb on MacGyver. Or an advanced round of Simon, the digital memory game. Inevitably, the blinks and beeps grow more intense throughout the parking process, until I receive the maximum warning, begging me not to proceed.

But I proceed anyway.

The Systems

The systems built into the parking structure entrance and into my vehicle tell me that I don’t belong in this place. They warn me of dangers and limitations. They tell me to stop. Every day. But I don’t stop.

Because they don’t know what I know.

First, I talked with the parking garage staff. I learned where the height is and is not an issue for me. So I know where my real parking opportunities are.

Second, I don’t rely on the systematic warnings from my vehicle to tell me where I will and won’t fit. I look in my mirrors as I negotiate the space. I check my front and rear cameras for feedback. I rely on my own experience. And I believe in my ability to maneuver my own ride.

As a result, I have successfully found a parking space every day I have pulled into the garage for the past 6 months. Despite the daily Tom Petty warnings that say ‘Don’t come around here no more.’

Don’t Let Them Stop You

Throughout your life and career, you will encounter people, policies, and signs that are trying to stop you. Ignore the signs. Ignore the gatekeepers. Ignore the naysayers. Only you know what you are capable of. Believe in your abilities. Believe in your skills. Know that you have the will to achieve your goals. And if there is a real impediment to your progress, believe that you are intelligent enough to discover it for yourself.

Key Takeaway

Don’t worry about cutting it close. Or slow progress. Or barely passing through. The drama only adds to your story. Most people stop when they are warned to stop. Those who experience the greatest success keep going. They see yellow lights, not red. They discover what is really possible. They build and create. They pioneer and achieve. And they enjoy their success even more because they didn’t let anything stop them. Be that kind of person.

*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.

+For more of the best life lessons I have learned check out my book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? from Ripples Media.

Why going too far is so good for you.

One of my goals for 2019 is to push things further. I have always been fascinated with limitations, and what it takes to move beyond them. We are capable of far more than we realize. And if we don’t flirt with the limitations of our minds, muscles and machines we will never know what is truly possible. And suddenly, I’m hoping my kids are not reading this.

Discovering Limits

I find great pleasure in discovering the outer boundaries. I have driven my cars out of gas, just to know where the true limit is. For those of you afraid to experiment with a fume-y gas tank, they can go farther than the gauges advertise. Knowing the true limitations helps you recalibrate, and know what your real options are.

My Junior year in high school I pushed my automitve limits and got into a single car accident. Late one night I was speeding way too fast and lost control of my Ford Escort on a dirt road. I flew off a 10-foot embankment, hit a tree in mid-air and landed on the passenger side of the car. When I came to a violent stop, I was staring at a herd of cows who were staring back at me as if a UFO had just landed in their pasture. And we all know cows and UFOs don’t mix.

The fascinating reward of losing control of your car is that you discover where the limit of control is. And that is a valuable asset the rest of your life. What’s more, I walked away from the accident without a scratch. And the next day in my track and field meet, I broke a 25-year-old conference record in the discus, and set my new personal record. (#TwoFer)  My Escort was tougher than I would have ever imagined too. I never had it repaired, and drove it for another 7 years.

salvador-dali.jpg!portrait

Salvador Dali

Salvador Dali, the famous surrealist, was known for pushing his art into strange, new and bizarre realms. When people told Salvador Dali he had gone too far he would respond:

It’s the only place I have ever wanted to go. -Salvador Dali

I love this quote. By pushing to the far reaches of his imagination, Dali created artwork like the world had never seen. In 2016, Dali’s Painting, Portrait De Paul Eluard, sold for $22,000,000. Had he not gone too far it is likely that we would have never known Dali’s name, or his melted clocks, or his redonculous stache.

Creativity

At The Weaponry, my advertising and idea agency, I often ask our team to take things too far. Find the breaking point in a concept, design, or layout. Find how many words is too few. Find the edge of good taste or credibility by pushing beyond it. Because you don’t really know where the limits are until you have bumped up against them. Or better yet, until you have moved beyond them. This is true in the physical, mental and emotional world. It is true in business, art, science, athletics, fashion, medicine, travel and humor. We must push the limits to explore, innovate and discover.

Key Takeaway

This year, go too far. Find the edges and boundaries. Find out what you are really capable of. And where things really fall apart. It may be much farther out than you thought. And discovering where the true limitations are, or are not, may be the most valuable thing you do in 2019. Unless you are my kids. In which case, keep the grape juice off the carpet like your Mom said.