One Amazing Life Lesson from A Very Unconventional Mentor

Some of the greatest lessons you learn in life don't come from top business or personal growth gurus, but rather from unlikely places or at least in unlikely ways.  I have been fortunate to study under some of the greatest mentors of our time ( Zig Ziglar, Brian Tracy, Tony Robbins, etc.) and have learned so much from them and credit their wisdom in helping me on my path in large ways.  But some of the best life lessons come from sources outside the business world and below is one of the most important ones I have ever learned.

Helen has an amazing story.  She was born in Hungary during World War I and grew up through the wars. Eventually her family made it to the United States, like many immigrants trying to create a better life. With no money and just a drive to make something of themselves; they eventually did.  They ended up owning businesses, a restaurant, and some other ventures.  Nothing super successful, but enough to put food on the table and a roof over their head after long days of work.

Helen went through her own hard times in raising her family.  She found success walking 12 hours a day selling Avon and baking cookies for her kids to sell on the street, while her husband worked at an auto plant.  They didn't have much and there are some pretty wild stories from the family as they grew up.  But all of her kids made it out and were all extremely successful in different areas.  She lived to be 100, she had a great life.

Look Both Ways and Go Like Hell

I met Helen when I was very young because she was my grandmother, Helen Lukas.  She had so many pearls of wisdom that a kid overlooks as he grows up, only to look back years later and see how amazing and useful that wisdom truly is.  I could write 20 blog posts on "Wisdom from Helen" and maybe I will some day, but there is one lesson that transcends across all areas of life that I didn't truly see until we lost her a few years back.

Even in her later days, Grandma always drove a golf cart around her neighborhood to get places (she liked to go to the dog park a lot) and when she got too old for that, she drove a motorized chair (her Jazzy).  

She would always say the same thing when she got to a street, doorway, or really any stop and start;
​"You look both ways, and then go like hell, honey!"

Now, of course some of it was fun and we laughed every time she said it, even when she smashed her jazzy into a display at Walmart because she lost control, but there was real wisdom in her message as it was a metaphor for life.

Look Both Ways and Go Like Hell is really a mantra for how to live life to the fullest.  Sure, check to make sure there is nothing dangerous in your way, but then accelerate, and don't let up...go like hell.  

Whether its driving your business to new heights, a personal goal, or changes you know you need to make in your life, attack them with vigor, passion, and a sense of purpose.  Do the actions you need to do to make them a reality.

Grandma Helen's wisdom spurred the creation of this site.  I sat on the idea for over a year before I saw a video of grandma laughing and saying "You always look both ways and go like hell, honey.  That's how you do it."

I decided then and there that I had looked both ways long enough and it was time to go like hell.  Misfit came together in less than a month after that.  

It's your turn.  Whatever it is that you know you need to get onto in your life, do it - Look both ways and go like hell!

Thanks gram!