That’s Outside My Boat

At the beginning of this pandemic my sales professor shared a story that had a profound impact on my perspective towards the current situation we find ourselves in. The story begins with Charlie Jones, a successful sportscaster who has covered several Olympic games throughout his career. For the 1996 Olympic games in Atlanta, he was assigned to cover the rowing, canoeing, and kayaking events – this left him quite disappointed as the broadcast would air at 7 am coupled with a long drive away from the Olympic village.

However, looking back at the whole situation Jones describes this as one of the most memorable sports events of his career. As he interviewed the athletes asking them about conditions they would face during their competition, such as wind, rain, or breaking an oar, they all replied with the same answer.

“That’s outside my boat.”

A seemingly simple statement that has such a profound meaning. Why focus on something you can’t control? Of course, online classes and quarantining is less than ideal. Don’t even get me started on the current state of the cattle market… as my dad says, “it’s always something.” There will always be something that isn’t going your way. But I challenge you to focus only on what’s inside your boat and make the best of your current situation.

2 thoughts on “That’s Outside My Boat”

  1. Hopefully our population will be more supportive of each other and extend their support to all segments of our local businesses once we emerge from this trying time. It is in times like these that prove the best we can be. FDR brought this country back stronger than any one could have imagined and it’s time for us to match or exceed that recovery.

    Reply

Leave a Comment