When talking about success, innovation, and making an impact, I am often asked the question “What does it take?”
Time.
Time is the key.
This week we held the third annual
Spring OSLC (formerly known as ‘Eastern OSLC’). When we started 3 years ago, we had 90 people that actually paid to come. It was a blast, we had fun, and the teachers loved it. You should know however that after we finished the first year many people said it wasn’t “worth it” to run again. They said it wasn’t a success, but I believed in the idea of spring conference and kept going. Now three years later we have close to 300 people attending the conference at St. Lawrence College in Kingston.
I meet so many people that want to be an overnight success. The word ‘overnight’ in itself means there is NO patience for the sometimes long and difficult journey.
Over the last 26 years I’ve seen so many people who have tried to run conferences. They stuck with it for one or two years and then they quit. Most often they think it won’t be a success because it’s taking too long!
I am lucky enough that I have built a business that allows me to dream and try things. We have enough other revenue that we can build new programs and take losses and still be ok.
When our
camp moved to our permanent home on Lake Simcoe we had very few campers. In fact, our first week I think we had 18 campers and more than 30 staff. (How about that ratio?) I remember clearly sitting with a long time, very supportive staff member and listening to them say, “We need to cancel two weeks, we won’t fill all 6. It won’t work.” Back then we ran 6 weeks of summer camp and had less than 300 campers total.
This summer, in 2018, we will run 8 weeks of summer camp and have close to 1,700 campers. Good stuff takes time. It takes riding the roller coaster for the entire trip, more than once: The ups and downs, the curves, the loops, the long hard climbs and the steep falls.
It took me 26 years to become an overnight success. It took me many sleepless nights and early mornings to get here. I am still not where I want to be – So much more I want to do!
Speaking of time,
SPARK our amazing program at Canada’s Wonderland is almost here. It’s a full day of leadership, theme park fun and prizes! Three amazing speakers, park admission and lunch included. Here’s the link! There’s still time. Three days to choose from!
If you believe in your dreams, commit to your passions and take the time needed. You can succeed and you will be STUpendous!
