This content was created by Thomas Anglero. This content was uploaded by Thomas Anglero. This is a podcast episode titled "Episode 122: That was you then, this is you now" (Soul of Innovation), published June 1, 2021. It features a solo monologue by host Thomas Anglero offering a motivational reflection on life being long, including a personal story about washing a yacht in Oslo 24 years earlier, encouragement to persevere through setbacks, and closing remarks with contact and subscription information.
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Welcome to the Soul of Innovation podcast. I am Thomas Anglero, and I want to remind you that life is long. My son the other day was asking me when he was a bit of a down mood, he said, Papa, is life long? Thinking that I would give him an answer saying, "Life is too short." And I just looked at him without hesitation. I said, "Life is long. Life takes a long time. You're gonna be around here for a long time. You'll be around here to do things many times over, to experience many new things." And most importantly, you'll have time to reflect on what you've done. Let me tell you a story that puts all this into perspective. Last night, I was invited by some friends to have dinner, have a pizza with them, but I was invited to their boat, to his yacht. It's a huge yacht located down on Aker Brygge in Oslo. If you know Aker Brygge, that is the waterfront where all the super rich people park all their yachts down in the heart of the city at the harbor. Now, the irony of all this, the true irony of all this, was that 20 4 years ago, 24 years ago, literally on the other side of the pier that I was sitting at having this wonderful dinner on this gentleman's yacht, no more than 20 meters or 45 feet from where I was eating my pizza, on the other side where the other yachts are parked. Was exactly where I had my very first job, washing a rich person's yacht. I was paid $10 an hour, probably less than that, to sit in a little dinghy boat with a sponge, water, and a special cream and wash the outside of his hull. Of the boat while trying to balance myself standing up on this little rubber raft. And I never will forget that as the waves pushed the boat towards the pier, and I'm between the boat and the pier, I literally had to duck down, crawl into a little fetus ball inside this little dinghy boat as the boat— and as the wave pushed the boat to the pier and crushed into the pier. And I was in this little, little fetus ball so I wouldn't be crushed. And then as the momentum of the boat pushed itself away from the pier, I was able to stand up and keep on washing. And I did this for 3 days as I went all the way around the outside of the boat, watching— washing every single little centimeter, every inch of this boat. For a super wealthy man. And 24 years later, I am standing just a couple of feet away now, having dinner on a friend's boat, talking about new possibilities and idea he had to start a new company. The irony of life. Life is long. So many things are going to happen to you in your life. You may be at a spot where you don't know what's going on. Things may not be good. You may be being underpaid for a job that you're risking your life, that people don't even recognize you. I remember that here, it was a summer day when I was working in that boat. Everybody's walking around eating ice cream, having lunch and dinner, breakfast, because I worked there from morning to night. People just staring at me as this guy was just a laborer standing at this boat, you know. And people were entertained by how I would duck underneath the thing and I would disappear for a minute or two and pop right back up. So I was their entertainment as they were sitting there having the most, you know, expensive restaurants in this beautiful part of Oslo. I was people's entertainment. You'll be people's entertainment. Your people will laugh at you. People will mock you. People won't even see you. Like they didn't see me. But that's only a moment in time. That's only a moment so that 20 years from now, 30 years from now, or 2 days from now, you can look back and say, that was then, this is now. Keep that in your mind. That was me then. This is me now. Life is long. You have so many chances to do so many things. You'll have chances to do something again, but do it the right way. Say something to him or say something to her again, but say it in a way that you meant to say it. You'll have another opportunity to have that job interview. Where this time you'll kill it. You say it beautifully. You'll be a master. You'll have a— take the promotion you want. You'll have a chance again to take that exam, another exam, but this time you'll study better. You won't have to stay up all night, and potentially you won't have to cheat. And on the flip side, life is so long that after you've done all these things so well, You'll have a chance again to make an error, to say the wrong thing to him or her, to not do well on that exam, to not do well in that next meeting. And that's the beauty of life. Life is long, life is complicated, life is dynamic. You never know what's going to happen to you. One day you could be sitting standing in the heat of the sun, sweating, being laughed at by people, being mocked by people, or worse, not even being seen by people, risking your life for a few measly pennies. And then sometime in the future, you could be envied by people, you'd be looked up to by people. You'll be paid by people just to have sit down with you as they pay you and pay for your dinner. Do not give up on yourself. Do not think that what you're going through right now is forever. Do not think that the pain is permanent. Do not lose faith in yourself. Life is long. And you have so many chances to live your life, to have a life, and you control every moment in that life. Just keep on trying. But remember, it's not about the next time I'm going to get it right. It's about the next decades, how often I'm going to get it right and how that helps people. And in return how it helps you. I'm just thinking now that, man, it's been a long road. It's been a long road since that day washing that boat. And I've met so many wonderful people, I've met so many horrible people, I've laughed, I felt good, I've taken deep breaths and enjoyed the smell of oxygen. The smell of the air, the smell of peace and freedom, the smell of I have another chance, another moment to do some amazing things. Breathe in. Realize you have another chance. You wake up this morning and you have another chance. You have another chance. It's the beauty of waking up every morning. You have another chance and another one and another. And another. Life is long. Life is beautiful. Because whoever you were then is not who you are now. Go forth and spread beauty and light over and over and over again. It's your life. It may be up, it may be down, it may be hard, it may be sad, it may be absolutely so much despair with all the things that are going on, but it also may be so beautiful. And beauty of having a beautiful moment, remember this, whenever you're having a moment, you're saying, "God, I can never be so much happier. This is the greatest moment of my life." Do not be sad that that moment will end. Be happy that that moment will come back over and over again. Over and over again. It is all you. Love yourself. Love the life you have. Love the mistakes that you make, that you have a chance to be better. Love the air that you breathe in your lungs. Love the, the moments you get to walk in the forest, in the city. Have the perspective. And your long life will be well worth it. This is Thomas Anglero. And if I haven't told you before, I do love you. Take care of yourself. Take a moment to reflect. Life is long. But life is beautiful. Till next time.
Thank you for listening to that episode. If you want to contact me, you can contact me on my website at anglero.com, and you can also subscribe to the newsletter, or you can find me anywhere on social media with Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter. Thank you so much, and I hope to hear from you very soon.
