james kahn’s scratchpad

On Friday night my wife and I went to a local “movies in the park” screening. Movies in the park is run by Brisbane City Council, and is a series of screenings of family movies in suburbs with the idea of increasing quality of life in Brisbane (which is pretty damn good already). I initially wasn’t so keen on the idea, but Bianca was dead-set on it, and I did enjoy myself. It was pretty nice sitting in the park under the stars, sufficiently sprayed with mozzie-repellent, eating take-out and watching a good movie.

The movie was “The World’s Fastest Indian“. It’s a true story about an older New Zealand man, Burt Munro, travelling to the Utah salt flats in the USA in the 1960’s to set a land speed record in his modified, streamlined 1920’s Indian motorcycle. I’d been keen to see the movie for a while - I thought it would be good, and it really was excellent. If you haven’t seen it, I recommend that you do. The movie shows the difficulties Burt Munro faced in achieving his dream. While many of the events in the movie are fictional, the message the movie portrays is good advice for anyone.

Have a dream, and work hard at it. Burt Munro had a dream of setting a land speed record on his motorcycle. He spent day and night for decades working on his motorcycle to turn it into the machine that it needed to be. His single minded determination and focus on the one goal he wanted to achieve - setting that speed record - allowed him to achieve it at a stage in his life when most people are content to take it easy. If you’ve got a dream, stick to it, and work towards it to achieve it. It won’t happen by itself - you need to work towards it, for as long as it takes. How many people can say they’ve worked for decades on a single project before their goal came to fruition? Whether your dream is to run a successful software company, live off the land in the country or sail around the world, keep working towards it for as long as it takes.

Be genuine and love people for what they are. Burt treated everybody like they were real people, with real feelings, in situations where many of us would have stereotyped the same people. Because of the way he treated people, Burt always brought out the best in them, and really made their personalities shine. I can count on one hand the number of people that I know that have a genuine interest in others. Do you judge people before they let you see who they are?

Don’t let others push you down. Regardless of how many setbacks Burt had in getting to the final goal of setting a land speed record in Utah, he always kept trying. No matter how many times he got told “no”, he always looked for a way to turn it into a “yes”. When he was ripped off, he held his head up high, and continued on towards his goal, however unlikely it seemed that he would achieve it. Too often the harsh words of others cut close to the heart. They hurt, and they turn us from our dreams. Don’t let this happen - if you get beaten down, however big or small the event - get back up again, dust yourself off, and keep moving towards your goal. Don’t let anyone stop you.

After running his bike in Utah, Burt did set a land speed record. And the speed record still stands to this day.