It's The Next Mile

Captain Edward James Smith, known as E.J., was the most experienced of the White Star Line masters. He had over two million miles of safe experience—a long and admirable career.

And he was the one selected to captain the maiden voyage of the Titanic, the largest, most luxurious passenger liner in history. Of course, you've seen the movie, you know the stories; it was a festive, festive time. They were out to the North Sea, under the command of a man who knew how to sail a ship… and of course, you see what happened.

That's why, in all our efforts, we need to be very careful. Success in the past does not equal success in the future. We've got a man who, it's pretty well acclaimed, made errors in judgment that caused the great disaster.

You know, we can take this to heart for our own stuff, too. Success in the past does not equal success in the future; it's always the next mile that matters. And it's not just when we're driving, which always intrigues me when people want to go off on their experience.

You know—"I've driven motorcycles for 15 years and I've never once had an accident…" and I always, in my mind, finish the sentence with "…yet."

Business success is the same thing. I've seen people who had brilliant marketing careers, who thought they had become unbeatable, unstoppable—and then one time they put too much money into something too carelessly, and it's a crushing disaster.

It's a message to always maintain consciousness, it's a message to always do and follow the systems, the checkpoints.

To always get the MasterMind at our helm to do what we know do to, and never to violate the sound principles that have brought us that two million nautical miles of success, that may have made us the most successful in our field.

For instance, how many of us have heard of or known of stars at the peaks of their careers— people like Janis Joplin, John Belushi, Jim Morrison—who crashed and burned? People like Clark Gable, who became a travesty of his former self when he let drinking get to him? Just because you've reached the top doesn't mean you're going to stay at the top.

It's a constant thing. It's just like eating—you don't eat once and finish forever. Stay conscious, keep guiding yourself, and may you have a successful career.

That's the way it looks from the deck of the Titanic, 13,000 feet below sea level…
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