You can’t thrive in a new, more global world, if you don’t get out of the house and actually see it for yourself. I met my friend Ben a few years ago. He’s a successful entrepreneur who has created and sold businesses. He lives in Manhattan and is a great example of someone who’s realized how important it is to say YES to new opportunities.
Ben has never been to India and doesn’t necessarily have a specific NEED to go there. But he wanted to go. Ben has a quiet but sincere curiosity about things. He’s not afraid of asking questions about things he doesn’t understand. He was interested in India and would ask me about my trips and experience there all the time. It didn’t seem like it was enough. He wanted to see for himself how the world’s largest democracy of 1.2 billion people is booming, how business is thriving, how people live, work and play. He wanted to meet people and learn. So in January of this year, a chance came to join a small group of business executives to travel to a global investors conference called, Vibrant Gujarat, Ben grabbed the opportunity. Like most of us, he has day-to-day obligations to his work, his family and others. But it seemed that he had something inside him aching to have a real experience in a booming emerging market like India.
Along with a handful of other business people from NY, Ben joined a tiny group [some pictured here with a giant statue of Gandhi in the center of the conference facilities] who set out to meet Indian business people and see what opportunities lie in India. He spent a week in two major Indian cities – New Delhi and Ahmedabad. He met lots of people in a business context and in a social environment. He stayed in local hotels (some better than others), tried the local beer, ate the local food and had a great time. Ben even got to meet with and sit and talk with the Chief Minister of the State of Gujarat (similar to Governor)! That’s awesome!
Ben got to see with his own eyes what India is like. To see and experience what others just read about in the newspaper. And he is better off for it – so he tells me. But he never would have gotten to experience any of that if he didn’t say YES to new opportunities. He never would have gotten to travel the chaotic Indian roads, meet the locals and get a real feel for what’s going on in that country if he was comfortable. He had to step a little out of his normal routine or his comfort zone. He followed his curiosity. He embraced the chaos by simply saying YES.
Get out and see the world. See something new. Move Forward! Do something new. Experience for yourself by saying YES and then get out of the house and do it…because now is the time and it is easier than ever!
