To Be or To Do

As I was reading Ryan Holiday's, "Ego Is the Enemy", yesterday, a chapter seemed to jump off the pages and slap me in the face. It told me to listen up and take note. It was a passage I needed to hear during this season of life. The chapter was about John Boyd.

John Boyd was a fighter pilot during the Korea War. He was nicknamed "Forty Second Boyd" because he could eliminate any enemy, from any position, in forty seconds or less from the first contact. Boyd went on to revolutionize maneuver warfare, helped make the F-15 and F-16 fighter jets a reality, and became an advisor to the Pentagon. He did more to change the US military than anyone else in history. Yet, hardly anyone knows the name, John Boyd. There are not buildings or bases named after him. In fact, Boyd was never promoted past the rank of colonel. During his career, he made many enemies and retired in a small apartment where he thought he would be forgotten. All of this seemed to be Boyd's intent.

During Boyd's career he was known for taking young, impressionable officers aside and giving them the following speech:

"Tiger, one day you will come to a fork in the road and you’re going to have to make a decision about which direction you want to go. If you go that way you can be somebody. You will have to make compromises and you will have to turn your back on your friends. But you will be a member of the club and you will get promoted and you will get good assignments. Or you can go that way and you can do something — something for your country and for your Air Force and for yourself. If you decide you want to do something, you may not get promoted and you may not get the good assignments and you certainly will not be a favorite of your superiors. But you won’t have to compromise yourself. You will be true to your friends and to yourself. And your work might make a difference. To be somebody or to do something. In life, there is often a roll call. That’s when you will have to make a decision. To be or to do? Which way will you go?"

You see, Boyd was not worried about what he would be, he was worried about what he would do. He was aware of what it would take for him to obtain personal success in his career, but he knew that success would come with compromises. Instead, he intentionally set out to do. To do what it would take to make a difference in the world no matter what the cost to his reputation, or the feathers he would ruffle along the way.

Boyd's story was a wakeup call for me. I am very driven in certain areas of my life and my ego likes to tell me that promotions, praise from others, or some other form of accolade are proof that my efforts are paying off. But when I work hard and don't get any of those I tend to second guess my efforts. I change how I speak, write, or do things to find a way to validate my efforts. I become more concerned about what I will be than what I will do.

I don't want to be remembered for who I was, but rather what I did and in the process hopefully change the world - if only a little - for the better.

How about you? Do you want to be someone or do something? To be or to do? That is the question.