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Reflection Title: “See that Bamboo Tree, in one year it will be 1 Foot Taller”

Book – Shoe Dog: A Memoir By The Creator of Nike by Phil Knight (Part 1 of 2)

Reflection:
Hands down, the best memoir I’ve consumed to date on this journey. I was riveted the whole time and didn’t want it to end. I could literally replay that last chapter titled “Night” a hundred times and I don’t think it will ever get old. I definitely feel a multi part reflection coming on. Man, I’m on a roll with these past few selections I've pulled from the antilibrary.

Phil Knight is an amazing storyteller apparently. This might very well be one of the reasons Nike became the Nike we know it today if I had to guess.

As we’ve learned time and time again on this journey, humans are hard wired to think and remember in stories. We are not number’s people. Math, numbers, and linear thinking are unnatural for us. Vivid stories, visuals, creativity, mashing up of abstract concepts together, and using our imagination are what sticks in our minds. Shoe Dog checked the box on these requirements and then some. It had travel, exploration, innovation, teamwork, challenges, spirituality, heartbreak, love, competition, and everything else in between. I felt like I was physically right there with Phil and his rag time group of buttface’s on their amazing journey throughout the early years of Blue Ribbon / Nike’s formation, growth, and success.

It was an incredible adventure and a great reminder of the power of storytelling and how it can influence others and helps drive people to action. I was already a huge fan of Nike shoes and apparel, but now I’ll be a customer for the rest of my life as I’ll think about this story every time I look at that swoosh on my foot as I set out on a run with Emilia.

One particular visual that I can’t get out of my mind was from a conversation that Phil had with the founder of his Japanese import partner company, Nissho. Phil was struggling with some challenges at Blue Ribbon in the early days and the founder of Nissho listened to him complaining and then pointed to a bamboo tree and said, “See that bamboo tree, in one year it will be 1 foot taller”.

It was a great reminder that no matter how big we feel like our problems are today, life always goes on. Life and growth will continue to happen all around us whether we want it to or not. There is no reason to try and force your will onto this world. A much more harmonious path would be to try and learn and understand this world, work with it, embrace what is around you, control what you can control, and have patience. The bamboo tree will always grow with time, the question is...will you do the same? We can either enjoy the journey or fight it, that choice is up to you.

I’ve struggled mightily with this concept throughout my life, but I’m learning and growing. My whole life, I’ve always had grand dreams, ideas, and visions of what I wanted to create in this world. Before Emilia, I’ve tried my best to force these dreams into reality and gave up if I didn’t see the outcomes I wanted, or the problems became too much to overcome. However, this new dream is different. All those previous dreams pale in comparison to where am at now in my life because none of them ever had a purpose. That all changed with Emilia and what I’ve been called to create in the memory of her spirit. I want nothing more than to turn this dream into a reality someday and have everyone understand the why behind it all…Emilia! I want the world to know Emilia Quinn Sears’ name, her life, and what she inspired to bring out in this world. I want the world to see what Living for 2 has produced. I want this so badly because I can’t fail for her again.

Luckily for me, I have my own Nissho founder in my corner in my Co-Founder Trieu. He knows how badly I want this, and I know he wants to help bring this dream into the world as well. However, he has a special skill of perspective and seeing this bamboo tree the same way the Nissho founder saw it. Whenever I start to get frustrated, off balance, or veer from my mission, he always brings me back to today and helps me to focus on what we need to do right now and nothing else. He does this every day for me, and I’ll forever be in his debt because it is through him, and others that we bring into this journey, that will ultimately help me to turn my dreams into reality in this world.

Here’s my challenge to myself, learn to sit back, have patience, let the world work, and focus on what you can do right here and now in this moment to live your purpose. Don’t worry about the outcomes or what the future holds. You can’t force your will on this world no matter how hard you try. Your problems will always work themselves out one way or another through the passage of time. That damn bamboo tree will always grow, will you?

Question: How might you detach from the outcomes you hope to see and focus more on what you can do today?