If you’re a leader, business owner, CEO, employee, or just an individual who believes there are certain things you just cannot accomplish or get done, you’re going to enjoy today’s message.
As I grew up as an adult, and had my two children, Tori and Zachary, anytime they would come up with a story of how they could not get something done or couldn’t accomplish anything, I’d always tell them there’s no such word as the word can’t. If we believe it can’t be done, well, it can’t be done. And if we believe it can, it will be done.
Now, my lovely wife taped a portion of the Grammys, on Billy Joel. There was this young man, Freddie Wexler, who started playing the piano as a young kid and always had dreams of meeting Billy Joel. He went on to become a successful producer working with some greats, however, his obsession consistently grew with wanting to work with Billy Joel. As a kid playing the piano, who do they want to meet? Billy Joel aka The Piano Man, of course.
That obsession came to a point that it started driving his wife a little crazy, to where when he turned thirty-five, she went on a mission to figure out how she could connect her husband with Billy Joel. Through her persistence, tenacity, and some connections, she finally made that happen to where her husband had an appointment with Billy Joel for lunch. Billy came in, he ordered clams and a BLT to go. And Freddie’s thinking, “Oh, this guy wants to blast out of here.” However, that ten-minute meeting turned into two and a half hours where they talked, they collaborated, they got to know each other, and they started working together.
Billy Joel, who is one of the greats, hadn’t written a song for 30 years, because he no longer believed he had it in him. He wasn’t having any fun doing it. He lost his mojo. He’s one of the greats, and he didn’t have the confidence to go out there, believe in himself, and write a song. However, Freddy Wexler saw a lot more in Billy Joel at the time than Billy saw in himself. Through working together along with his persistence, tenacity, and stubbornness, Freddy, after two years, finally got Billy Joel to write a song, which he played at the Grammys, which once again was phenomenal. Billy Joel is at his best.
Freddy had that vision since he was a kid and kept obsessing over that vision. It didn’t hold him back from creating a successful producing career, creating a successful business, and working with some of the greats. But Freddy wouldn’t have been fulfilled until he worked with Billy. Now, Billy, on the other hand, simply lost his mojo. And Freddy saw more in Billy at the time than Billy saw in himself. Just like a coach working with you would see more in you, your capabilities, and your possibilities versus what you see in yourself. And when Billy finally saw what Freddy saw, the universe kicked in and he created beauty and magic in his song.
This story’s all about not what you can’t do. It’s about what you can. But most importantly, I think the story illustrates that you need somebody to see more in you than you see in yourself to do the things that you can do that maybe you believe you can’t because when you see in yourself what they see in you, boom, that’s when the magic happens.
Kudos to you, Billy Joel, kudos to you, Freddy Wexler, for following your dream. And for any of you who still think you can’t get something done and you want a guide to see more in you than you see in yourself right now and just have that second set of eyes to see some things that you might not be seeing, reach out to somebody. Better yet, reach out to me, and schedule a call. Would love to chat.
COACH MICHAEL DILL is an Award-Winning Certified Business Coach, global speaker, and published author. He is a proud Action Coach Franchise partner as well as the President of Power & Ice Wealth Creation a strategic leadership company that works with business owners, leaders, teams, and entrepreneurs to both develop a systematized and structured organization while accelerating their mindset, efficiencies, and effectiveness to grow both personally and professionally to achieve extraordinary results. He brings more than 40 years of business and entrepreneurial experience in his leadership, team training, and mentoring practice. Businesscoachmichaeldill.com