This week there have been articles that the search for
Amelia Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, and their
doomed Electra may have succeeded. After many trips over at
least ten years, The International Group for Historic
Aircraft Recovery say they may have a sonar image of her
plane on the floor of the Pacific. That prompted me to re-
read Doris Rich's biography of Amelia Earhart. What struck
me was that Amelia's great gift was not about flying, but
about knowing her direction in life.
Obviously, Earhart is most famous for the records she set--
first woman to fly the Atlantic, first person to fly across
twice, her many speed and altitude records--and of course,
the mystery of her disappearance. What we often miss is the
genius of her living.
Earhart was a model of grand dreams and down-to-earth
practicality. She wrote and loved poetry, she was a
political activist, a feminist, a nurse and public speaker.
She was a social worker before she became famous, and she
understood the connection between our dreams and our
schemes.
Earhart understood that achieving our dreams requires a
practical SCHEME and the WILL to pursue it. That was her
real genius.
While I stand in awe of her skill as a pilot, what
impressed me even more was her capacity for hard work. She
regularly gave speeches (often two speeches per day) in a
different city every day, for weeks on end. She would
speak, sleep a few hours, drive all night, have a press
conference over breakfast, rest a couple hours, then give
her speech and repeat the process. Imagine doing that day
after day, for weeks!
Now, imagine speaking and traveling every day, while also
writing articles in your spare time, being politically
involved and working with Congress on the future of
aviation, and simultaneously preparing for another world-
record flight. That is an amazing example of energy,
persistence, determination and force of will!
How did she do it?
Well, I have to admit that I think she had an extraordinary
genetic gift. That may be an excuse, because I can hardly
imagine the schedule she maintained, so I cop-out and claim
she was "different" than the rest of us!
But, how about the similarities?
Earhart always knew what she wanted and used her desire to
set her course.
Most of want so many things that we don't truly know what
we want most. We often want things that actually contradict
each other, like losing weight while eating more and more
food. We tolerate things that distract us, that drain our
energy, and take our focus away from our primary goals.
Earhart didn't fall into that trap. Her ability to say, "I
want to do this" and then to focus her spirit, her energy
and her will on achieving it were astonishing.
Fortunately, we, too, can choose our directions, choose our
goals and focus our efforts.
If anyone had the excuse of "too much to do," it should
have been America's most famous woman. The demands on her
time were incredible, but she learned to choose her
battles, to focus her attention and discipline her efforts.
We can learn from that!
This summer, what are your most important goals? Of course
there will be the unexpected and unpredicted. Life will
tempt us in a thousand ways with a zillion opportunities, a
ton of problems and a dozen daily distractions, but through
it all, a few of us--the high achievers everyone else calls
"lucky"--will stay focused on their critical, passionate
goals.
Earhart was clearly gifted, but more than anything else,
she worked hard, knew her destinations and let nothing blow
her off-course. We can learn from that. Know your
destination. Stay awake. Stay focused. Remain disciplined.
Keep going when others quit.
Amelia Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, and their
doomed Electra may have succeeded. After many trips over at
least ten years, The International Group for Historic
Aircraft Recovery say they may have a sonar image of her
plane on the floor of the Pacific. That prompted me to re-
read Doris Rich's biography of Amelia Earhart. What struck
me was that Amelia's great gift was not about flying, but
about knowing her direction in life.
Obviously, Earhart is most famous for the records she set--
first woman to fly the Atlantic, first person to fly across
twice, her many speed and altitude records--and of course,
the mystery of her disappearance. What we often miss is the
genius of her living.
Earhart was a model of grand dreams and down-to-earth
practicality. She wrote and loved poetry, she was a
political activist, a feminist, a nurse and public speaker.
She was a social worker before she became famous, and she
understood the connection between our dreams and our
schemes.
Earhart understood that achieving our dreams requires a
practical SCHEME and the WILL to pursue it. That was her
real genius.
While I stand in awe of her skill as a pilot, what
impressed me even more was her capacity for hard work. She
regularly gave speeches (often two speeches per day) in a
different city every day, for weeks on end. She would
speak, sleep a few hours, drive all night, have a press
conference over breakfast, rest a couple hours, then give
her speech and repeat the process. Imagine doing that day
after day, for weeks!
Now, imagine speaking and traveling every day, while also
writing articles in your spare time, being politically
involved and working with Congress on the future of
aviation, and simultaneously preparing for another world-
record flight. That is an amazing example of energy,
persistence, determination and force of will!
How did she do it?
Well, I have to admit that I think she had an extraordinary
genetic gift. That may be an excuse, because I can hardly
imagine the schedule she maintained, so I cop-out and claim
she was "different" than the rest of us!
But, how about the similarities?
Earhart always knew what she wanted and used her desire to
set her course.
Most of want so many things that we don't truly know what
we want most. We often want things that actually contradict
each other, like losing weight while eating more and more
food. We tolerate things that distract us, that drain our
energy, and take our focus away from our primary goals.
Earhart didn't fall into that trap. Her ability to say, "I
want to do this" and then to focus her spirit, her energy
and her will on achieving it were astonishing.
Fortunately, we, too, can choose our directions, choose our
goals and focus our efforts.
If anyone had the excuse of "too much to do," it should
have been America's most famous woman. The demands on her
time were incredible, but she learned to choose her
battles, to focus her attention and discipline her efforts.
We can learn from that!
This summer, what are your most important goals? Of course
there will be the unexpected and unpredicted. Life will
tempt us in a thousand ways with a zillion opportunities, a
ton of problems and a dozen daily distractions, but through
it all, a few of us--the high achievers everyone else calls
"lucky"--will stay focused on their critical, passionate
goals.
Earhart was clearly gifted, but more than anything else,
she worked hard, knew her destinations and let nothing blow
her off-course. We can learn from that. Know your
destination. Stay awake. Stay focused. Remain disciplined.
Keep going when others quit.
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