A Letter from Chris Suarez
SHAPE YOUR FUTURE. CRAFT YOUR OUTCOMES.
There’s something beautiful about walking the grounds of a University. Besides just the manicured lawns, the architecturally interesting buildings, the well planned landscape, and the wandering pathways, it is the energy in the air.
After spending a couple days this week at my house with a small group of incredible business owners that have committed to go on a year long journey with me called The Xperiential MBA, I decided to take some time alone this afternoon to walk the grounds of a nearby University.
To see groups sitting together outside the bookstore, sitting on the lawn in conversation, walking to and from class with books in hand, biking back to the dorm with their packs on their back - they are thinkers, and learners, and doers.
I walk by people of all ages, but focus on those that seem to be between 19 and 25 years old. They are gathering, talking, studying, eating, drinking coffee. I like to imagine what projects they are working on together, what principles they are debating, or what business solutions they are dreaming up. Just watching them makes me feel almost smarter - to be surrounded by those that have not given up on learning. They feel as if they are at the prime of their life to shape their future. They have the energy to craft their outcomes.
I often walk around University campuses to watch people gathering randomly, walking in and out of the university bookstore, running on the track. You can see in their eyes that they have their future ahead of them. Put yourself around those types of people. Find people that see the future differently than it is today. Find people that love to learn. Find people that cause you to think - whether it is something they say, something they write, or simply what they do.
Being in a room with learners is a different room. It sounds different and feels different. Of course there are only so many rooms we can be in. So choose them carefully. I can’t put a figure on what I would pay to be in the right rooms. Because by changing how I think, it changes how I feel, and changes what I do, which changes what I create, and changes what I receive. That to me is invaluable. And yet, our environment is so much based on the choices we make, not the money we pay.
If you find yourself lost, uninspired, or wondering what is next, maybe it’s time to just find the closest University and take a walk. Go find a community of learners and thinkers to be part of. Architect an environment for yourself and your people that sees the future differently.
Sure, there are things I’ve learned and models I share along the way when I teach. But if I stop learning and rely on what I’ve shared or taught in the past, then I and those around me will be left in the past. Some days that means I’m in an actual class. Some days that means I am listening to others’ perspectives through interviews. Every day that means I am reading. Other days, it’s just walking through the campus of the local University.
I’m grateful for my business partner and his constant learning. I'm pushed by all of my other partners every day to never stop learning. They demand it, because they are learners and obsessed with growth. I’m grateful for that.
We are always in the prime of our life to shape our future. We can always find the energy to craft our outcomes.
Chris