A LETTER FROM CHRIS SUAREZ
THOSE THAT CAME BEFORE US
This week I was able to check off visits to a few countries I had yet to see. More important than that, I was able to visit some historical sites that I have wanted to experience.
I visited the Colosseum and Trevi Fountain in Rome, the Areopagus in Athens, the Library of Celsus and Theatre in Ephesus, the Olympic Stadium and Temple of Zeus in Olympia.
The time spent with family and the experiences created were priceless. I was able to get a few books read that I’ve been wanting to finish while traveling in between countries and work on my upcoming Xperiential MBA Mastermind content.
It was special to be able to show my daughters the high points and the low points of early human civilization. There was such brilliance in engineering, in thought, in art, and leadership. There was also such tragedy in warfare, greed, and oppression.
What struck me was how many lessons we could learn - clear models of what to do as well as what not to do. Often, both sides of these lessons came from the same person, the same culture, the same nation. They all had high points and low points. There are things about their history that are still honored and respected today. And there are moments in their history that they wish they could have back or wish bad never happened. We saw all of that in our travels this week. Here are just three simple lessons from a few of our days:
Nothing is easy, but we have it easy.
Those that came before us paved the way in many regards. So many gave their life for the sake of religious freedoms. So many dedicated their life to sharing thought leadership or improving the quality of life for future generations. Looking at buildings and walking through structures that were designed and built over 2000 years ago that are still standing was hard to even believe. What they had to work with and what it took to build what they built is hard to believe. They did not live easy lives.
Define what legacy really is to you.
It caused me to pause and appreciate those that came before me. It is also a reminder of what it really looks like to work on something that stands the test of time. It helps put in perspective what legacy really is. What will we do that matters to future generations? What will we do that people talk about or come and visit hundreds of years from now?
Learn from those that came before us.
In every area of our life, history has a way of putting things into perspective for us. If we pay attention, if we listen, if we study past events, we will all make better decisions as we create our own history. It takes time and effort to learn the lesson. It takes time and effort to make the connection between the past and the present. When we do, the lessons learned are better than anything we could ever pay for.
Regardless of what area in life we are looking to improve in, I am certain there are those that have come before us that can provide frameworks and lessons and insight as to how to level up our present.
Chris Suarez