Execution Over Excuses

"No matter what you do, believe in yourself, fight for your art, serve with love and excellence and you will be rewarded." -Brendon Burchard

A friend and colleague of mine has a perpetual, never-failing positive view on life, the struggles, and success. Instead of thriving and beating himself up over life's simple mistakes, he takes them and turns them into a positive outcome and learns from it--a skill many people have a hard time utilizing effectively. I envy his success and hard work that he's put in thus far and I know that he's going to go extremely far in life. As I've watched him grow and succeed, I've added him to my list of role models because of his many talents and admiration.

Many of us (including myself) make excuses to get out of something. Let's all be real here. We've all had a friend or an event we didn't want go hang out with or go to, so we made up some lame or stupid excuse so that we didn't have to hang out or go, right? I know I have, and sometimes it's came back to kick me in the rear. I often regret not going and doing whatever it was I was asked to do. There have also been a few things that I'm glad I missed out on due to their outcomes. 

While attending school here at Full Sail there have been a couple of events that I've wanted to attend but never did because I came up with some excuse not to go; however, I've always had a keen eye for success. I'm always on the lookout for an event that can really benefit me and so far I think I've done pretty well. Those events would've been purely for entertainment purposes. While having something look entertaining is still a good reason to go, it's not good enough for me all of the time.

I have also attended quite a few events where I have learned a lot. I mean a lot. The Hall of Fame events that I attended back in March were a wealth of information. My favorite event was the "Behind Google's Cloud." While this event was geared more towards software developers, mobile developers, etc, I still learned a lot about Google as a company. Learning about how various companies achieve various struggles and climb different mountains has always been fascinating to me.

Sometimes my inner "professional" self takes over a tad too much because it has held me back from a few things I know I would've enjoyed. The perfect example of this is basically my Junior and Senior years in high school. I never went to parties, smoked, drank, or anything. I was a good boy. I knew that I had way too much going for me, and one stupid mistake could ruin it all. I ran two (and still run one) successful businesses: a photography and lawn care service. I also worked at the grocery store, which was really good advertising for both of my businesses because clients could put a face to Lennon Cihak Photography and Lennon's Lawn Care Service. I also worked for Stoneridge Software, which was a fairly new business in town and not many people knew what it was, what they did, or that I even worked there, but needless to say, my name was tied to it. And to bring everything together my mom works for the city, so most people know or recognize her as my mom. I know that we all go through a phase where we try to "fit in" or "be cool," but for me getting a minor or something as simple as that could've ruined everything I had going for me in a single newspaper publishing.

Does my "professional" self kick in a bit too often and/or too much? Probably, yes, but that doesn't mean it's a bad thing all of the time. Full Sail has these things called GPS points or "Global Professionalism Score." Often times if potential employers know you attend Full Sail they will ask what your GPS score is because it states how professional you are in and out of the classroom. In fact, if I were to get in trouble with the law at all I believe it gets reported to Full Sail in one way or another. If the situation is bad enough I can have scholarships revoked, get suspended, or even worse, get expelled from my program or even the school. Professionalism is everything here at Full Sail, and I'm glad that I've kept my record clean all these years because it did pay off. 

Success lies everywhere, every day, and in each and every industry. There's also a time and place for everyone, and it's your job to make sure that you're at that place at the right time. Some of it's luck, but most of it's skill. Is it going to be difficult? Absolutely. Will it get handed to you? Most definitely not. Does hard work pay off? Heck yes! Whatever it is you're trying to achieve, don't stop working towards it. Next time you're asked to go somewhere or do something, think about it. Think about the consequences (if any) and think about the rewards. I encourage you to have fun, but always remember: Execution over excuses. 

Lennon 
Student
Bachelor of Science, Music Production