{"id":339,"date":"2012-01-03T14:43:16","date_gmt":"2012-01-03T22:43:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/?p=339"},"modified":"2018-08-10T11:59:28","modified_gmt":"2018-08-10T18:59:28","slug":"jay-sears-remarks-from-the-labor-day-2011-renaissance-weekend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/jay-sears-remarks-from-the-labor-day-2011-renaissance-weekend\/","title":{"rendered":"Jay Sears\u2019 Remarks from the 2011 Renaissance Weekend"},"content":{"rendered":"
The following is a guest post from fnBlog Contributor Kevon Saber, founder of a stealth mode startup\u00a0and author of www.kevonsaber.com<\/a> where he blogs on “human flourishing”. \u00a0Kevon’s post summarizes Jay Sear’s inspirational life wisdom written in the form of a hypothetical deathbed letter to his family. – Editor<\/em><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/div>\n
\"\"<\/div>\n
\u00a0As 2011 draws to a close I\u2019m reflecting on my highlights of the year. \u00a0Among them was attending\u00a0Renaissance Weekend<\/a>\u00a0for the first time over Labor Day weekend. \u00a0\u201dRen Weekend\u201d is an ideas festival attended by super accomplished leaders. \u00a0To my delight, my lack of credentials went\u00a0unnoticed by the invitation\u00a0committee\u00a0and thus I had the\u00a0privilege\u00a0of attending. \u00a0Renaissance Weekend felt like a series of intimate seminars at a top-tier MBA program except most people have grey (or white) hair and far less ego. \u00a0Throughout the weekend I was captivated with\u00a0big\u00a0ideas, engaged in invigorating debates, and inspired to fulfill my potential.<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/div>\n

Jay Sears<\/a>\u2018\u00a0\u201dfinal remarks\u201d were a highlight of my weekend. \u00a0Jay shared them with everyone who attended as if his lease on life were about to expire. \u00a0I share them here with Jay\u2019s permission in case they inspire you to live with greater intentionality in 2012.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThese are my final remarks to my wife, and wisdom to my children and my, yet unborn grandchildren. \u00a0Maybe some of\u00a0these words may resonate with you.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, I stand here as a half- complete \u00a050 year old man. \u00a0I was so sure that I would live to at least 90, that I put off\u00a0the development of my better half until I was 45.<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
As an over-achieving Type A workaholic with low self-esteem, I was driven to succeed. And by worldly standards, I have achieved well more than my fair share.<\/div>\n

But success came at a price; the energy that fueled that success, was largely a case of misplaced energy. \u00a0I thought that I \u00a0could squeeze more into a day and still have all of that quality time with my wife and kids, but as you know, it didn\u2019t work that way. \u00a0We make calendar choices very day; and something wins your time and someone loses your time. \u00a0And you don\u2019t get a do-over; life moves on.<\/p>\n

Success alone doesn\u2019t make you feel good about yourself. \u00a0I learned way too late, that I feel best about myself when I can use my time, talent and treasure to uplift others and maybe help change the trajectory of their lives.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t wait to be secure and successful, before you make a difference in people\u2019s lives. \u00a0You may end up achieving neither.<\/p>\n

Be guided by hope and not by fear, but don\u2019t be stupid, be prepared! \u00a0As you always heard me say, \u00a0 luck happens when preparation meets opportunity.<\/p>\n

But don\u2019t be afraid to fail. \u00a0I failed big and often, and my failures were my greatest learning experiences.<\/p>\n

Solicit input from opposing voices. \u00a0It is possible that, in spite of your brilliant education and resume, that you are wrong.<\/p>\n

Build a reputation upon a core of strong values and character and defend it fiercely. \u00a0It will be your greatest asset. \u00a0Make hand shake deals and stick to them.<\/p>\n

Be a do\u2019er. \u00a0The world has enough academics; put your dreams and passions into action and build something that you and your family can be proud of.<\/p>\n

But don\u2019t let money and wealth be your goal. \u00a0These are bi-products of success, not the measure of success.<\/p>\n

Find great partners for business and life, and be a great partner. \u00a0In business, it is much more enjoyable to share the experience with a partner. \u00a0You also realize along the way, that you couldn\u2019t have done it yourself anyway.<\/p>\n

In life, be a great partner to your spouse, you both married well. \u00a0I married way over my head and I failed to appreciate her in so many ways. \u00a0I had planned to spend my second half making it up to her; don\u2019t make the same mistake.<\/p>\n

Take care of your mother, she devoted 25 years of her life to guiding you through the challenges of your childhood. \u00a0She modeled a life of the highest values, unconditional love and compassion for the powerless.<\/p>\n

I regret that I seem to have run out of time; \u00a0I was quite sure that the best was yet to come.<\/p>\n

Live large, but always do what your mother tells you to do.<\/p>\n

I love you all,<\/p>\n

Dad\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The following is a guest post from fnBlog Contributor Kevon Saber, founder of a stealth mode startup\u00a0and author of www.kevonsaber.com where he blogs on “human flourishing”. \u00a0Kevon’s post summarizes Jay … <\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[144],"tags":[98,90],"table_tags":[],"class_list":["post-339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tech-startup-advice","tag-startups","tag-tech-founders","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":[],"featured_image_data":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=339"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=339"},{"taxonomy":"table_tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/table_tags?post=339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}