Anthony Iannarino is a genius. I share his belief that sales is a process you do with and for others. His post today was especially enlightening. Shared here for your Sunday reading enjoyment;
Hello Allan,
This past week marks 25 years since my two brain surgeries.
The first brain surgery was 6 hours long, and the surgeon used a type of glue to fill the mass of arteries and veins that had grown into a knot. The procedure was called an embolization. They did this procedure to prevent having to deal with a potential mess that may have occurred when they removed the mass. There would have been a lot of blood and a loss of visibility. That was November 8th, 1992.
The next day, November 9th, Dr. John Tew had medical students at the University of Cincinnati open my skull so that he could remove the AVM (arteriovenous malformation) along with the bruised brain. The mass had two arteries carrying blood in and one vein carrying it out. Dr. Tew told me that when he clipped the two arteries and the vein, and the AVM popped straight out. The brain behind the AVM was badly damaged and bruised by the swelling of the AVM, and it had to be removed, otherwise, I would have likely had seizures.
This anniversary reminds me of some of the things I learned that carried forward.
- You don’t know how deep a parent’s love is until you recognize that they would trade places with you to prevent you from having to go through something like this. You also have no idea how powerless they feel until you are one. I recognized this as I was going the surgery. When you understand this, you recognize your responsibility to take care of the people who take care of you.
- As I filled out the papers for my disability to cover the time I was off work, I had to choose between short term disability and permanent disability. I didn’t feel like I was disabled. I asked my neurologist if I was disabled, and he said, “You are if you think you are.” I checked short term. I didn’t recognize the power of his statement until sometime after that. You are what you think you are.
- For three months I did not work, I read a book every day or two. I was reading so much so fast that I knew it was physiological. I told my neurologist that my brain was on fire and making new neural connections as the result of the trauma that is brain surgery. He said, “There is no research to support that. You are just reacting to losing a piece of your brain.” You may not recognize how much your behavior is compensation for something deficiency you feel. The brain is not so much rational as it a tool for rationalizing.
There are countless other distinctions I could recount here, like how you should think about your relationships with your family and your close friends, why you should be very aggressive in exploring your choices when it comes to medicine, and why and how you should value your days.
What I really want to tell you is to never blow a second chance, and to know that you don’t need to wait to have something happen to have that second chance. You can call for a do over whenever you want to.
You always have the opportunity to make today day one. In fact, you have that opportunity right now.
Do good work, and I’ll see you back here next Sunday.
Anthony Iannarino