Are you a jack of all trades or are you the best?

I said after a few moments of thought that I didn’t like the question and didn’t want to answer.

Obviously, that wasn’t well-received at first. “It’s would you rather, you have to choose one.”

I held my ground and said that I don’t want to be excellent at just one thing, I want to be excellent at 5 or 10. I don’t want to be mediocre, God created us for a purpose.

We then moved into talking about what others might desire. Do people really desire to be great at 10 different things? I don’t think that most do.

I think most people aspire to be good enough.

Eventually, that whole conversation transitioned into a cooler vs. closer vs. cleaner conversation too.

Many people don’t aspire to be great in life, they aspire to reach comfort — and that’s ok if that’s what they were put on earth to do.

But here’s the truth…

“People don’t get kept up at night by their dreams, they fall asleep and dream about them.” — Harrison Wendland

What are you working towards in your life?

I’ve had many many people tell me many many different things about my life’s purpose and what I should be doing with my life. But a number of things that people have said, I remember. Why? Because they meant something to me — good or bad, they meant something.

“People are going to look at you and say ‘no, no that’s crazy, you can’t do that.’” — Earlie James

“It’s easier to mute ambition and eliminate the risk of failure and convince yourself that the stagnancy you’re experiencing is the success you’ve always desired.” — Harrison Wendland

What are you working towards in your life?

Here are a couple of things that are part of my central vision:

“You are a reformer. You are somebody that is called to change systemic issues.”

“I was telling my friend about you and I just want to say how proud I am of you. At 22, you are more mature than almost every 30-year-old man I know, keep going.”

“If there were a lot more Harrison’s in the world, it would be a much better place.”

“You will be a great manager/president one day young Harrison. Anyone can be president.. only a few can be a GREAT president. That will be you.”

“I could see you as a billionaire, why? you just work so hard.”

“I could see you being the guy who gets out of a private jet for a meeting.”

“Harrison is an ambitious business major who will create an impact.”

Those 7 things have stuck with me.

When I take time to self-reflect and look back on the things that I’ve held close from the words of others or conversations with other people, those stand out.

Most of those people don’t really know what I aspire towards in life.

But, they know parts of me.

They know some of my talents and capabilities and they can see where I could be impactful in the present and the future.

Now there are MANY things that I don’t talk about publicly.

The same person I started this conversation with continued talking to me and I said something that I particularly liked, “I’m an open book but whoever is looking to know more about me must turn the page.”

I don’t talk about my purpose in life, my vision, my goals, any of it.

Most people simply do not care and do not care at the depth that I would be interested in sharing. I have a vision that I can feel, taste, sense, imagine, realize, all of it. I know that if it’s aligned with God’s will for my life, He will direct all the pieces and so long as I’m faithful, I will fulfill all of my purpose in life.

I have enormous goals and desires — but if they’re not aligned with God’s vision for my life, they’re meaningless and a waste.

Here’s how I would describe my central vision:

“To build things with a positive impact that are sustainable over time.”

“I fail often. I push hard. I work passionately. I learn always. I love deeply. I listen closely. I strategize frequently. I work harder than yesterday.”

I’m not drawn towards a particular industry — though I’ve always loved cars and architecture.

I could see myself leading a company or two or ten.

I could see myself as an Angel Investor & a VC.

I could see myself managing some real estate holdings/developments.

I could see myself leading/supporting philanthropic endeavors specifically health & faith-related.

I’m not sure what I’m going to be doing in the future but I can assure you of this — I’m NOT going to settle for mediocrity.

I’ve tried the 50% method and it’s terrible. I want to give 110% and leave NOTHING on the table, I want my full potential reached.