If you are a regular follower of Marlin’s Musings, you recognize the name Roy Williams. I first met him in 2002 when he visited XM Radio headquarters in Washington, D. C., and I have been a reader of his weekly Monday Morning Memo ever since.
Known as the Wizard of Ads, his decades-long business has been assisting operators of small businesses to market and advertise their businesses more successfully… which, over the years, his weekly messages mainly dealt with; however, in recent times, he’s turned to sharing what he’s learned about life overall – as I now find any number of MMM’s appropriate to so many of you far beyond just those running small businesses.
Please read on:
Billy Sunday was born in 1862, the second year of America’s Civil War. He died in 1935, during the Great Depression. Billy was a wildly flamboyant and controversial preacher, but he made an interesting observation:
“More men fail through lack of purpose than lack of talent.”
We’ll talk more about purpose in just a minute, but first we need to talk about possibilities.
I will say it plainly:
- What you see in the mirror isn’t you.
- Look inside yourself and take inventory of what you find there.
- Realize that this is all you have to work with.
- Make the best of it.
I will say it as Confucius might have said it:
- Gilded paper and bright ribbons adorn an empty vessel while gold hides in a rough wooden box.
- You will not find what is not there. But what lies inside you is easy to see.
- Everything within you is all that you have.
- Therefore, it must be enough.
I will say it like an old warrior:
- Fancy uniforms don’t win battles.
- It’s not the size of the dog in the fight that matters, it’s the size of fight in the dog.
- If you don’t have it in you, it doesn’t exist.
- Learn to use what you’ve got.
This is how Yoda would have said it:
- Be invisible, you will.
- Inside yourself, you must look.
- Hmm. Flaws, you shall find.
- Magic, these are.
I will say it as someone who loves you:
- You are the perfect you.
- No one else can be you as well as you can.
- You will be you for the rest of your life.
- It is time to discover what you can do.
And now it is time to talk about purpose again.
A sad voice inside you whispers: “Everyone talks about purpose, but no one can tell me what it is, or where to find it.”
Quit listening to that whiner. Purpose is given to you by what you care about. Is there anything you care about?
Of course there is.
Are you ready for the real mind-blower?
Purpose is given to you by everything you care about. You are overflowing with purpose. The problem is that you care about so many things that you are having a hard time choosing a purpose.
Here is the good and happy news: You can have more than one purpose!
In fact, you already do; and you have what it takes to make a difference.
How many differences do you want to make?
Pick two or three of them to get started. You can add other ones later, when you have taken these first ones as far as you choose to go. Sooner or later, you’ll choose a few that will sink deep roots in you.
Every oak tree begins as an acorn.
Now go. Get started.
Roy H. Williams
PS – “It is better to burn the candle at both ends, and in the middle, too, than to put it away in the closet and let the mice eat it.” – Henry van Dyke
First of all, I thank Roy for allowing me to share his insightful thoughts with you.
Now that you’ve gotten this far in reading this new sharing of sage advice from my friend Roy Williams … I have a special offer for you to consider!
If you have never read my radio industry memoir, RADIO… My Love, My Passion, and would like to do so – OR – would like a copy to gift a friend … for the first 20 readers who send me their name and mailing address to marlin@marlintaylor.radio, I will mail you a copy at zero cost!
Finally, I wish you a happy and superbly enjoyable holiday season!
