Kelly Slater's parents were artists who never pursued their dreams, so his mother told him to think big and consider the whole world, not just small problems. Evan Carmichael connects this to libraries facing budget cuts and challenges entrepreneurs to build ventures that last generations, not just get by.
Good morning, Believe Nation! Today's message is Think Big. Over to you, Kelly Slater.
I come from a small city in Florida, in Central Florida, and there's not too many people in my city who've sort of spread out around the world. I live around the world, I travel around the world, and it's It's really great. It's a lot of fun. But I think as a kid, I had a lot of ideas that were really big. And both my parents had passions that they never really followed. Both my parents loved to play music. Dad played guitar. My mom loved to sing and play banjo. My dad did a little bit of theatrical acting. But they never really followed their dreams, either one of them. And I think that was one thing My mom always wanted for me, she always wanted me to follow my dreams and to think big. Don't just think of like, you know, just a little problem you have at school or just a little— I mean, you got to take care of those things too, but it's thinking about the, you know, someone like the Dalai Lama, he's thinking about the whole world every time he makes a decision, you know, and if people think, if more people think that way, more big great things happen.
So I'm in Madrid and I just got back from a talk for librarians to help them think bigger and help them stay relevant. Because libraries are getting budget cuts, losing funding, on the verge of extinction according to some people. And I don't want them just to be relevant, I want them to be great. That was the theme of my talk. I look at— before I came, I looked up famous libraries, and the only thing that kept coming up over and over and over again was the Great Library of Alexandria, something that hasn't been around for thousands of years. You know what, you guys can do better. I don't want you just to be relevant, I want you to be great again. I want you to build a library that will last for thousands of years, that in 1,000 years people will still be talking about the great things that you created, right? And I want that for you too as entrepreneurs. You know, getting by isn't enough. Having a little impact isn't enough. I want you to think bigger. If you have the talent, you have the ability, you have the hustle, you have the drive, I want you to build something that will have a big impact on people and that people will tell their grandkids about because it was so special what you created. And that's motivating. That's exciting. People don't get excited about doing little things, right? To motivate yourself, to motivate your team, to motivate the media, to motivate investors, to motivate the people around you, you have to be doing something that is worth getting excited about. So do that. Build something that when you look at it, it's like, I can't wait to go out and do that initiative. Think bigger. I got on a bit of a rant there. I'm excited. So the question of the day today is, I wanna know what stops you from thinking big? Leave it in the comments below, join the discussion. Thank you so much for watching. Have an amazing day. Continue to believe, and I'll see you again tomorrow morning for another shot of espresso.
