If you woke up this morning with sugar plums dancing in your head, most likely Santa made it down the chimney … and Rudolph is stretched out on the ottoman with a cup of egg nog in hand. T here’s a powerful lesson in here for you.
“Seriously?” my wife said.
“You’re really singing Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer while you’re getting dressed this morning?”
I’m afraid so.
Honestly, I have no idea how that song got into my head.
Maybe because Rudolph … along with Santa and Frosty … are the most iconic images of a secular Christmas?
[pullquote]Why is Christmas like a day at the office? Because you do all the work, and the fat guy in the suit gets all the credit.[/pullquote]
Maybe because Santa brought me some cool loot?
Maybe all that … but for just a moment, I stopped to consider the words … mostly to figure out how to convince my wife that I hadn’t lost it … yet.
It dawned on me that there’s a very timeless message in this simple tune that applies to all of us entrepreneurs … and everyone else trying to find their way in this world.
So, at the risk of sounding a bit corny … but forgiving myself because it’s Christmas after all … and the message is really true … and it’s Christmas ….
All of the other reindeer used to laugh and call him names. They never let poor Rudolph join in any reindeer games.
Isn’t that about the same experience that every entrepreneur has confronted during his or her struggle to get off the ground ?
You’re not worthy, you’re crazy, you don’t know what you’re doing, you look funny, you act differently … God forbid … you’re kind of nerdy?
Probably interminably worse … and …
Then one foggy Christmas Eve Santa came to say: “Rudolph with your nose so bright, won’t you guide my sleigh tonight?”
So, lo and behold, your talent is recognized … you’re becoming the chosen one … preparation meets opportunity … you experience the exuberance of “instant stardom after 5 years of waiting tables” … and you finally start to get somewhere after all of your hard work and commitment.
Then all the reindeer loved him as they shouted out with glee, Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, you’ll go down in history!
About this, Stuart Smalley might say,
“I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and dog-gone it, people like me.”
(I digress … but isn’t that a special triumvirate? U.S. Senator Al “Stuart Smalley” Franken and former governors, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jesse Ventura, both of Predator fame? Is this a great country or what!)
Sorry … so the moral of the story?
You made it … by defying the odds, remaining committed to your dream despite the obstacles, learning from the doubters but ignoring the naysayers.
So, as silly as it seems, there’s a simple message here.
Keep singing, keep humming the tune, stay with it.