Limitations – Dave Glardon

You May Not Know How, But You Can Always Learn

April 6, 2021 by Dave Glardon, posted in Uncategorized

Good morning! I hope your day is off to a great start.

How many of you watch those cooking shows on TV? They have special channels dedicated to cooking – several of them. They have shows for any style of cooking you can imagine, whether it’s baked, fried, broiled, boiled, steamed, barbecued, or just set out in the sun to cook itself. They even have special shows where junior chefs make us all feel stupid.

If there’s ever anything you wanted to learn to cook, it’s there. They even have special episodes dedicated to really tough dishes like French toast. Apparently, there’s more to it than eggs and stale bread. Of course, you can’t just have French toast. It has to be served with hand-drawn butter, Chantilly cream, and some type of alcohol.

I know this because my wife watches these shows a lot. Whether it’s the rancher’s wife making burritos, cake decorators making a full-size replica of a 747, or the guy who travels the country looking for diners most of us would drive right past, Americans’ preoccupation with food is apparently eclipsed only by our fascination with “Breaking News.”

If you’ve read this far, I can only assume you’ve seen at least one or two of these shows. So, here’s my question – do you record the shows or take copious notes so you can replicate those dishes on your own? Or is it more like watching khaki-clad idiots grab deadly snakes by the tail? “Fascinating, but you’ll never catch ME doing that!”

We all like to know how things work. Well, most of us. My oldest daughter doesn’t care what happens under the hood, as long as the car starts when she presses the button. “You mean it needs gas?” Okay, I’m kidding. She knows it needs gas. I think she can even identify a spark plug, in a line-up of tires and brake parts. Just don’t ask her to install one.

I can say that because she never reads my posts. But in complete honesty, she’s pretty handy with a set of tools. She just chooses not to use them unless there’s no other choice. But when she was a young single mother, I taught her how to replace her own brakes. She did the work herself, and the car actually stopped, which is the true measure of success.

I remember telling her when she finished that she may never do that again, but she’d always know she could. I’m pretty sure she only heard the first part of that sentence because, to my knowledge, she’s never done it again. But she doesn’t have to. She makes enough money to let somebody else do the dirty work. All she had to do is change diapers.

Give somebody the right training and tools, and there’s not much they can’t do. Even brain surgery is simply a matter of training and tools. Thankfully, we have laws on how much training that requires, and exactly what kind of tools you’re allowed to use. Even then, you have to carry malpractice insurance. That’s comforting.

But there isn’t much we couldn’t do if we set our minds to it. Could you play a guitar like Eric Clapton? Probably. Could you paint like Michelangelo? Maybe. Could you build a successful business and build the life of your dreams? Absolutely. If one person can do it, most anybody can. It’s just a matter of how hard we’re willing to try.

While one person may have a natural talent for something that sets them apart, at the end of the day it’s still a matter of process and practice – learning what to do and then doing it until we get good. This is why ten-year-olds are able to create gourmet desserts without a recipe card. It’s not a gift they were born with – it’s one they wanted.

More often than not, our limitations come from within. That may be intentional or coincidental. I’ve never learned much about plumbing. That’s by design. I don’t want to know, because if I do, somebody will invariably ask me to do it. On the other hand, I’ve never tried to learn anything about accounting. When assets have to equal liabilities, I’m lost.

Could I learn these things? Sure. Do I want to? Well, not so far but that can always change depending on the circumstances. But make no mistake, if anything can be done by anybody, you can learn to do it also. Maybe not as quickly or as well, but the ugliest birthday cake I’ve ever eaten was also the best.

If there’s something you want to do, then do it. If you don’t know how, find somebody who’s willing to show you. There’s nothing you can’t learn, and not much you can’t master. It’s just a matter of how badly you want it.

That’s all for now. Have an awesome day!

Define Your Own Limitations – Don’t Let Them Define You

October 6, 2020 by Dave Glardon, posted in Uncategorized

Good morning! I hope your day is off to a nice start.

Have you ever thought about the advice we give kids, about how they can conquer the world and be anything they want if they only work hard enough? “There’s nothing you can’t do!” Then they try to climb the refrigerator shelves to reach the cookies purposely placed out of their reach, and the rules suddenly change. So much for ingenuity.

All through our lives, we’re told to dream big and aim high. I saw a sign on somebody’s desk once that read, “Aim for the moon – even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.” Well, if you think there are stars orbiting the moon, maybe we’re getting at the root of the problem. That’s not to say you’re doomed to failure, but a Mensa scholarship probably isn’t in your future.

We all have limitations. Some we were born with, and some we’ve developed along the way. Sorry, but that’s just a fact of life. If you’re three feet tall in high heels, odds are you’ll never be a star basketball player, no matter how badly you want it. And star football players know all too well how quickly certain injuries can end their career or seriously limit their ability to compete.

So, aside from natural ability and devastating loss, what stands between us and the goals we so strongly desire? Why can’t I, at the age of 62, become an avid runner and win the Boston Marathon? Well, first of all, I can’t find anybody who’s willing to chase me that far with a snake. The motivation has to come from somewhere.

But let’s be honest. The real reason I’m not a marathon runner is because I never wanted to be. As a kid, I despised basketball and soccer because there’s too much running. And that carried into my adult years. A friend once asked me to join him for a 5k run. I said, “Why would I run that far when I can do it faster in a car and smell decent when I get there?”

And let’s be honest here – if my parents had told me that I could accomplish any goal in life if I’d just run every day, I think I’d have chosen Door #2. It was never my thing. On the other hand, my parents did encourage my artistic side, both in music and in writing. That was my passion and, apparently, it’s also my strong suit. The writing, not the music.

In our jobs, there are things we need to do well just to stay employed. We need to be even better if we hope to advance. That doesn’t mean you have to be the absolute best. It just means you have to be better than average. And no matter what you do (for a living or otherwise), if you have the basic skills to do the task, you have the ability to do it better.

Having gotten a taste of what it’s like to live in an RV, I think I can do it better. In fact, I’d like to become one of the best campers on the planet. That’s my goal. But so far, nobody is offering to pay me to camp, so I have to get good at something else along the way – earning an income on the side. And building a decent campfire without gas. Just keeping it real.

I have all the tools in place to live my dream, including the side income. Well, the ability to earn that income. But there are things I need to do to develop that ability and become better at it. I don’t have to be the best – I just have to be better than I am today.

And we all have that ability, whether it’s our job, a business, a hobby, a relationship, our physique, or even the way we sing. It’s okay to focus on the dream as long as you also focus on just doing a little better along the way. Instead of shooting for the moon, aim for that next step. Being the best is awesome, but it’s more important to be your best.

There are limitations to what we can accomplish, but find those limitations yourself instead of letting others dictate them to you. If there’s something you want, go for it. Give it everything you’ve got. You may still come up short, but isn’t that better than not coming up at all? Do one thing better each day and your dreams will make up the difference.

That’s all for now. Have an awesome day!

Follow @dglardon

It’s Enough To Be Your Best

August 14, 2020 by Dave Glardon, posted in Uncategorized

Good morning, and happy Friday! I hope your day is off to a great start.

I saw a tee shirt not long ago that I almost bought for my grandson. It read, “Mom said I could be anything I wanted to be, so I became a smartass.” Hey, if the shoe fits. I probably had a little to do with that myself. You know, telling him there’s nothing he can’t do. His mom is to blame for the rest. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. She got it from her mom.

We tell our kids this kind of stuff any time they aim for the stars or come up short on their report card. The conversation is pretty much the same. “Yes, sweetheart, you can become the best baseball player ever to live. You just have to want it!” With the report cards it’s a little less lofty. “If Johnny can get an A in math, so can you. You’re just not trying hard enough!”

Well, time for a bite of reality. It’s called “limitations” … the outer boundaries of our natural abilities. If your kid brings home a C on their report card, it means they’re pretty much like everybody else – no better, and no worse. It also means you don’t have to spring for a new bicycle or whatever else you may have promised for better grades. Learn when to be satisfied.

The fact is teachers don’t award grades based on effort. If they did, some of the slowest kids in class would bring home straight As, and some of the geniuses would be scraping the barrel. Grades, like many things in life, are based on our ability to master whatever it is we’re trying to do. And, while effort certainly plays a part, there’s a little more to it than that.

My youngest daughter is one of the smartest people I know. If she decided to study medicine, there’s little doubt she could learn to be a brain surgeon. But if you’ve ever seen how she shakes just buttering a piece of toast, you’d run the other way. I’m not sure what causes that, but it’s a physical limitation that would prevent her from ever holding a knife in the operating room.

I always wanted to be a pitcher on my baseball team, and the home run star of the league, too. But I spent my time in right field – you know, where the dandelions grow. Nobody ever hits the ball to right field unless they were aiming for the dugout and missed. The rules said the coach had to let me play, so he put me where I could do the least amount of damage.

When it came to batting, let’s just say I was a better outfielder. I think I got one base hit all year, and that was only because the other team was too dazed at the initial shock that Dave actually hit the ball. But, here’s an important point to make. As I was grabbing my bat and helmet, I made a completely incredible announcement – “I’m getting a hit this time!”

Could I have become a stronger player? Absolutely. Could I have hit more home runs than Freddie Chadwick? Never in a million years. My physical stature just wasn’t sufficient to hit the ball that far. Yes, I could have built more muscle and hit the ball further. But some of that is just in the way we’re built. The same goes for grades. You do the best you can do.

Can you accomplish anything in life? Well, within certain limitations, yes. If you’re confined to a wheelchair, odds are you won’t be winning the Boston Marathon any time soon. But that doesn’t mean you can’t compete, and that you can’t turn in an impressive performance. It’s just a matter of priorities – what’s most important to you?

We don’t have to reach the very top to succeed. Do you need to be the richest person in the world, or just make enough money to enjoy the life you want? Sure, both are technically “possible,” but one is a lot more feasible. And within the bounds of “feasible” lies that all-important realm of “believable.”

It’s hard to find the energy to chase a goal we don’t believe we can achieve. Whether that’s better grades, a perfect golf score, a home run, or achieving financial success, it all has to start with belief. And belief only extends to the limit of our natural abilities.

Can you become a better student? Yes. Will you ever get straight As? Maybe. Can you hit the ball a little better, or improve your financial status? Absolutely. To what limits? Well, there’s only one way to find out. When you reach a goal, set a new one. Then just keep doing that until you can’t go any further. You may not reach the very top, but you can get closer. And sometimes, that’s good enough.

That’s all for now. Have an awesome day!

Follow @dglardon