It’s the question, stupid
January 8, 2014 by Brian Hicks
You know I tell stories for a living, but here’s one that I couldn’t make up. It’s the real deal. And it’s my new favorite.
While speaking at the 12th Annual DI Day in Minneapolis in the fall, I met fellow speaker Billy McLaughlin. Billy is a virtuoso guitarist who has a condition called Focal Dystonia, an incurable neuromuscular disorder. I don’t have enough space here to share his full story, but you can find out all about him at www.billymclaughlin.com
Here’s the short version. Billy was at the top of his game – agent, recording contract, single on the Billboard charts, magazine covers, awards. And then, in the prime of his career, his fingers wouldn’t work.
As the fingers on his left hand stopped working, Billy could no longer play. When he could no longer play, he no longer had an agent, a recording contract, a single on the Billboard charts or magazine covers. His career was over.
Or was it? In the most AYT decision in history, Billy decided to do the impossible. He had his guitar restrung and learned to play with his other hand.
Did you get that? That’s like saying Nolan Ryan, at the height of his pitching career, became a lefty.
Have you ever heard of a pitcher doing that? Nope. Because it’s impossible.
Except when it’s not.
I mentioned that Billy is a virtuoso guitarist. I didn’t say he used to be one. He’s had to relearn each of his pieces one note at a time — and it’s been excruciating at times — but he is playing with the opposite hand.
How did he do it? I wouldn’t dare minimize the complexity of his battle, but I like to keep things simple: He chose capable. I wrote a piece several months back about my personal slogan, “Astound Yourself Today.” I wrote about it in The Tinderbox Tapes, speak about it on stages across America and tweet about it with #AYT.
It’s a simple idea: Each day you decide whether or not to do the things that lead to success — professionally, personally, relationally, spiritually. And most of us ask questions like, “Is it comfortable?” or “Can I wait until someone comes along & does it for me?” or “Is it convenient?”
But those are the wrong questions. Those answers will always be no, and you will never achieve astounding results. The only question we need to ask is, “Am I capable?” The answer to that is almost always, “yes.” You see how that changes your internal conversation?
Now you can own your choice — for better or for worse. Now you can say, “I could’ve chosen capable, but I went with convenient or comfortable instead.” You can’t blame Harry Reid or even a neurological disorder.
You can even ignore your family when they say, “Enough already. We love you and we hate to see you killing yourself like this. It just isn’t meant to be. God must have another plan.”
What they mean is, capable is hard for you to do and it’s hard for us to watch. It would be better for everyone if you just chose convenient for a while.
But here’s the crazy part: Choosing convenient is ultimately the most inconvenient thing you can do. Take Billy. He had the music inside him. Didn’t know how to go about his day without it. You think his family begged him to stop once or twice? But he couldn’t.
It’s time for you and me to get a little Billy Mac attitude.
