The picture above is of strawberries. And why is it of strawberries? Well, I’m glad you asked.
I met a man today who runs a strawberry patch. In his own little piece of heaven in central new york, this man’s family along with two very well behaved and great-looking golden retrievers, are the stewards of a plot of land that grows a delicious red fruit.
As we began some very small talk at the cash register, we discovered that this man had purhcased his first golden retriever as a student. “Where did you go to school?” we enquired. Without a moment of hesitation and sense of pride he replied, “Cornell”.
You may be asking yourself why a man that was smart enough to get into, and graduate from, such an elite school is working in mud covered overalls at a strawberry patch. However, I think we could very well turn the tables a little bit and say, what does this smart man know that we don’t that leads him to work in a strawberry patch when he has a degree from Cornell?
My wager, he knows what his TRUE life goals are. Not the goals of income, wealth, personal posessions, etc. but the goals that really matter: happiness, contentment, love, family. I think this man was smart enough to attend a prestigious college, but also smart enough to know where he would truly be happy in his work
That’s not to say that everyone must work in a strawberry patch to find joy in their work, but for him, that was the spot.
As we drove away it reminded me of what my business goals were as well as my life goals and where those meshed and where they butted heads a bit. We must be smart enough to be successful, but also smart enough to know where true success lies…and maybe it’s in a strawberry patch…or a real estate office…or a manufacturing plant…or a car dealership…or wherever you want it to be.
