As my dad celebrates his retirement at age 80, I would like to raise a toast to him for giving me the greatest advice for business and life I’ve ever received.
Calling Dad for advice is kinda like sincere prayer… things are either really great, or really not great.
This advice though is timeless so I hope you find value in it to.
Here’s how it goes….
Dad, I have this thing, and it’s huge…
Dad laughs and says… Well did I ever tell you about my first legal contract for the family property at the Zion Ponderosa? I was straight out of school and so green and so nervous… and 54 years later, that contract is still in place today.
Then he says the key advice…
Or Dad, you can’t believe what is going on in my life…
He laughs, and he says oh that’s a good one…
Did I ever tell you about representing the doctor who cut off the wrong leg?
His story is always larger than life… we laugh, and he gives me the advice.
Or Dad, what would you do if this was going down in your life?
Always more laughter and complimenting me on my predicament followed by…
Did I ever tell you about how I rescued RoseMarie Reid’s swimming suit empire business?
My “thing” seems so small, and he says this key phrase….
Or, Dad I’ve got this business idea that could be…
Oh yes!, he laughs… did I ever tell you about our helicopter business flying fat cats from LA skyscrapers and landing on the tarmac at LAX?
I say that’s crazy… he says I know, laughs some more and clues me in with this advice…
Or, Dad I’m really concerned about this thing going on…
He laughs and looks at me and says, well ya but remember when we were trading gold and pesos and the check cashing business?… haha, I laugh too and he unloads the advice.
Dad, how did you ever figure out how to handle this thing I’m facing…
The smiles and laughs come harder and happier… and he tells me about him and Merwin clobbering the largest law firms in the nation – just a couple of cowboy cousins kicking butt… and he tells me again what to do.
So, here’s the advice…
Get up in the morning and put your pants on 1 leg at a time, and get to work.
The juicy details of that advice were a little bitter at times until I understood that my dad, loves to work and do big projects and have fun while he’s at.
Now I shared that so I could tell you this… because sandwhiched in between the laughter, the awesome story and the advice was this… You Can Do This
Cheers to my dad for putting his pants on one leg at a time and going to work, making it fun, and providing so many wonderful times for his associates and family.
Can’t wait to see what he does tomorrow!