I have just finished reading Jessica Watson’s book “True Spirit”. I recently attended her book launch and I was intrigued to hear for myself what this young girl had achieved. As she began talking she had that nervous voice but it only lasted a couple of minutes before she found her rhythm and was back re-living her passion – sailing. I came out from the book launch and people asked me “how was it?” and one thought I keep coming back to is: She simply had a dream and committed herself to achieving it. She clearly didn’t do it for the fame or even to achieve a record, she just really wanted to do it.
To be honest, I can recall only becoming interested in her adventure when it was made public what she intended to do and with that came the criticism of not only herself but her parents too. At the time I wasn’t jumping on the critical bandwagon, instead became more interested in the reasons or justifications for why she should or shouldn’t be going. I have since learnt through hearing her talk and reading her book that this adventure wasn’t some teenage rebellious act, rather a well planned and followed mission, where no stone was left unturned and no consequence was not considered.
I kept an interest as her adventure began, again not nearly as committed as the many people all over the world who followed her blog whilst at sea, just an ever present thought about how she was going and wondering where she might be at. The mere thought of being at sea for that long, alone and at the weather’s mercy, makes my stomach uneasy; quite frankly I would have been petrified! I followed her adventure because I was captivated by someone so young having a dream and fulfilling it – thankfully all the way back to Sydney!
So this brings me back to our ability to dream and to use this to drive our achievements and ultimately our success. Jessica Watson writes in her last few lines that “I’ve got the ability to dream; that’s all anyone needs to make their wishes and dreams come true, you don’t need a shooting star, you can do it yourself”.
But is it really that easy? Jessica Watson is a teenager and one thing not on her side is experience. Sure she has got a bucket full of it now – but she doesn’t have years of life experience to draw upon. I think this is what she used to her advantage, she didn’t have the opportunity to say “I can’t do this, last time I tried I failed”, rather she just kept focussing on her dream.
As we grow older and gain experience why is it that we sometimes see and use our experience as a negative and a deflator for dreams.
Think about it now…
When was the last time you really dreamed about something you wanted to achieve?
What happened next?
Are you still working towards it or did your life experience burst your dream?
Susan Scott author of “Fierce Leadership” offers a great strategy to stop our dreams bursting. She suggests recording what we would like to achieve and then to stop the negatives, record why we CAN actually do it.
Jessica Watson on return to Sydney and being presented to the crowd was introduced by the then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd as a ‘hero’. She famously corrected him and pointed out that she was “just an ordinary girl who believed in a dream”. We are all ordinary and we can all dream!
By the way, people have also asked me if I would let my own daughter head off out to sea if that was her dream. Thankfully being only young I’ve got a few years breathing space on this decision, but I am happy to say that this story has given me the attitude that I’ve got to be open and willing to listen and consider and not to discount what may seem like a ridiculous prospect. I haven’t got the right to burst a dream, I have got the right to foster and develop a sense of belief.
Sharon Kilmartin
Learning Facilitator
Insight International Consultancy
