Tag Archives: Charles Kettering

“No-one would ever have crossed the ocean if he could have gotten off the ship in the storm.”

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“No-one would ever have crossed the ocean if he could have gotten off the ship in the storm.”

—Charles Kettering, former head of research at General Motors

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Image from Flickr by ErgSap

Virtually no-one I’ve ever met has had a life of smooth sailing. Just think about the life storms that you’ve faced over the years. If you are reading this post, you must have weathered things reasonably well.

Consider life’s challenges as tests to you, as a sailor of life’s seas, to cross your own personal and professional oceans. If you get off the ship too early, you have literally missed the ride of your life!

Exercise:

Select at least one personal and one professional ocean you intend to navigate in the year ahead. What preparations can you make for stormy weather?

“You will never stub your toe standing still. The faster you go, the more chance there is of stubbing your toe, but the more chance you have of getting somewhere.”

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“You will never stub your toe standing still. The faster you go, the more chance there is of stubbing your toe, but the more chance you have of getting somewhere.”

– Charles Kettering, former head of research at General Motors

I’ve been learning about the differences between introverts and extroverts in relationship to their various routes to achievement. Given the quote above, you would be correct in assuming that extroverts would probably stub their toe a bit more often. Introverts tend to be a bit more cerebral and cautions about the steps they take, to apparently avoid some missteps.
Regardless of whether you are an introvert or extrovert, Kettering emphasizes the need to act if we wish to move our lives forward

Exercise:

Ask friends, family members and colleagues for feedback regarding your propensity for action. Are you more of a ready-aim-shoot or a ready-shoot-aim person? Hopefully you are not a ready-aim-aim-aim-aim kind of individual!