CHAPTER 1Growing Up

“Get busy living or get busy dying.”

—from the movie Shawshank Redemption

When my father recently passed away, a little eight-year-old girl named Natalie, who is a friend of my daughter Claire, wrote me a note that said, “Mr. Elko, I do not believe that someone grows up until they lose a parent. I am sorry you had to grow up.”

Growing up and maturity seem like simple and similar notions, but they are not the same thing at all. The immature person says to himself or herself, “Life should give in to my demands.” The mature person says, “I should give in to the demands of life.” I’ve used the term “give in” here because that’s the way immature people relate to life. They want life to change and “give in” to their demands. They ...

Get Touchdown!: Achieving Your Greatness on the Playing Field of Business (and Life) now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.