A Man on a (Simple) Mission

I had a conversation with a guy that rides around town on his bike while balancing a beautiful, six foot long piece of driftwood on his head. If you’ve spent any amount of time in Venice, you know who I’m talking about. He’s the guy on that damn bike with that weird log perched up right on his head. If you’re reading this from a far, just imagine the craziest Venice Beach image in your head and it’s only twice as stereotypical than that.

The easiest thing to do is to write this guy off as a “Venice crazy,” which he very well might be. Regardless, a brief conversation with him yesterday had me contesting some urges to judge and, rather, start reflecting on what mission I was going to accomplish this week.

“Yea, I need to make six bucks by Friday. I got a job at the Irwindale Motor Speedway this weekend..”

My man here was, in casual conversation, giving me a glimpse at a key opportunity he had this week (a temporary job working at a fair). First, I was hit with perspective with the care in his voice about this job opportunity and the conviction he had about his desire to make it happen. In addition, he, in a very matter of fact way, shared with me the focus of his goal for the week to find six dollars to pay the bus fair to the fair. Getting six dollars seemed like a task that would be tough, but that he was up for the challenge.

He couldn’t have been nicer, especially for being the oft unspoken celebrity that he can be for people like myself in the community who only know him as the guy with the stick on his head. I left him with a smile on my face thinking the joke is on all of us, because I have been fighting off the urge to write him off as a kook for years now. Little did I know that his guy is a man of action. He’s got a specific goal this week and I’d bet you six bucks that he accomplishes it.

He’s got a mission.

You might ride around in a car (without a stick on your head), have a job, and eat three meals a day, but can you say that same? Do you have a clear plan this week? Will you succeed?

 

 

Logan Gelbrich

@functionalcoach