Josh Bob: Is Your Life on Shuffle?

Are you living life on Shuffle, waiting for something good to happen to you, or are you making your own playlist? It’s a question most people think they know the answer to, until they actually take the time to analyze how they make their decisions. And when they find the truth, it’s often one that they don’t like hearing.
 

On The Road

I drive a Toyota Camry. That’s not really pertinent information, but I figured if you’re going to picture me driving for the next couple of paragraphs, you’d want to know what to picture me driving. If you want to imagine me at the wheel of a Ferrari, that’s alright with me.
 
Living in a suburb, I drive a fair amount, and my favorite times to drive are late spring and early fall; the weather is fantastic, the windows are down, the sun is out, and on long trips all I see ahead is the open road. Life is good.
 
I’ll usually need some tunes, though, so I turn on the radio. It’s usually tuned to sports radio (from the ballgame the prior night), so I hit the “Scan” button. Then it’s country music, followed by classical and something in a foreign language. Finally I might hit a station with Tom Petty singing “Running Down a Dream” – the perfect driving song – and jam out for four minutes or so. After that, a commercial comes on, so I hit Scan again, waiting minutes for the next song that I like.
 
For so long I lived my life like this; I hit Scan on life until I found something acceptable, although it was rarely as perfect a fit as “Running Down a Dream.” I took the job that was offered, because it seems like one I could tolerate; I dated the person who showed interest in me, because she was the one who seemed right at the moment. Once I got bored or annoyed or tired, I hit Scan again, waiting for the right thing to find me once more.
 

Take The Wheel

That was until I decided to take control; you might say I bought an iPod and loaded it with many of my favorite songs (along with some random ones). I thought long and hard about what I wanted from life, and started ensuring that not only did my “Driving Mix” contain some classic Petty, but also “Born to be Wild,” “Radar Love,” and maybe even “Life is a Highway” (Tom Cochrane version, please). The next track may not be a mystery – or if it is, the only surprise is which of my chosen songs will be next – but it’s almost guaranteed to be one that I’ll enjoy.
 
If you’re reading this, you’re likely interested in working for a startup. Are you making the right moves to prepare yourself for the road ahead? It’s easy to get a job with a new company; it’s more difficult to be a fantastic startup employee (it can be harder to be the first follower than to be the leader). Are you truly equipping yourself to be a great startup founder, if that’s what you want?
 
Take some time to answer yourself truthfully: Are you like so many people, living life on Scan, your life at the mercy of DJs you’ve never met – or are you playing your own tunes? Of course, you can never be sure what’s next in life, but by taking the steps to load the right songs into your iPod – by pointing yourself in the right direction, making the right choices, and most importantly, learning what makes you happy – you can prepare for what might come your way on the miles of highway toward success. Or at least you’ll enjoy the ride.
 
Josh Bob is the Founder and President of Textaurant, a company that is changing the way people wait. Previously, he managed a staff of 15 running Northeast operations for a national sports league. He has an MBA from Babson College.
 

Photo Credit: ipresents on Flickr