Romancing The Brick Wall

I was reminded this morning of one of the best chapters in the “Last Lecture,” titled, “Romancing The Brick Wall.”  Randy Pausch eloquently and pignantly writes, “Brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They are there to stop the other people.”  I couldn’t agree more.

While this chapter focuses on Randy’s courting of his future wife, this approach and belief is in no means limited to matters of the heart.  The idea of the brick wall is that there are always obstacles in life that will appear.  Some are small.  Some are big.  If you really want that something enough, you’ll find a way to overcome the wall.

Probably, one of my favorite examples of this was when a very tenacious soon-to-be grad “forced” her way into a position she wasn’t qualified for.  We had a job description posted asking for 5 – 7 years of experience, I believe.  It was a Sr. Producer/Account Supervisor role.   Well, there was this scrappy, inexperienced person (I can’t even call her a candidate), who refused to accept the fact she wasn’t qualified for the position.  She tweeted, called, texted, emailed, and I think even Facebooked me to try and get an interview.  Finally, I relented.  I figured, I’d give her the interview, explain that she wasn’t qualified (again) and then move on.  But, she blew me and everyone else away.  Her interview was one of the best I’ve ever been in.  I was floored.  How floored?  We re-wrote the job description and gave her the job.  She figured out a way around the wall because she wanted it more than anyone else.  That’s what it means to romance the brick wall.

Walls are everywhere we look.  Walls are there to remind us of how bad we want something.  They are there to keep others out.  If you want something…if you really want it, then you’ll have to make the effort to find a way past those walls.