Before the Trophies, There Was a Tin Can

Before the trophies, before the crowds, before the Hall of Fame, there was a barefoot boy in a sugarcane field.
 
Before the prize money and applause, there was a dirt floor, a one-dollar wage, and an empty tin can hammered into the shape of a golf ball.
 
Before greatness, there was discipline.
 
That’s where the story really begins.
 
“Juan grew up in Puerto Rico, one of eight children, living in a small three-room shack with a dirt floor and no toilet.
 
At six years old, he was already working eight hours a day in the sugarcane fields, driving oxen to plough the land. He earned one dollar a day.
 
Most children are protected from responsibility at that age. Juan was shaped by it.
 
He later said it was in those cane fields that he learned some of the most important lessons of his life:
 
Be on time.
Work hard.
Be loyal.
Respect your employer.
 
That dollar wasn’t just income. It gave him dignity. It gave him self-esteem. It told him, “I can contribute. I matter.”
 
At seven, he got another job, spotting balls on a golf course. He watched the players. He studied their swings. And quietly, a dream formed.
 
Not of trophies.
Not of fame.
 
Just earning enough money one day to buy a bicycle.
 
But then came the powerful shift.
 
He asked himself, “Why not?”
 
He had no clubs. So he made one from a guava tree branch and a piece of pipe.
He had no golf balls. So he hammered a tin can into shape.
He dug two small holes in the ground and practised hitting between them.
 
And he practised with the same intensity he had used in the cane fields.
 
That little boy would grow up to become Juan “Chi Chi” Rodríguez, winning multiple PGA Tour events and becoming the first Puerto Rican inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.”
 
 
But what moves me most isn’t the trophies.
 
It’s the discipline.
It’s the imagination.
It’s the question: “Why not?”
 
As I reflected on his story this week, I couldn’t help but think about my own journey.
 
There was a time when I had to rebuild my business from scratch. Bookings disappeared. Confidence took a hit. The easy option would have been to shrink back.
 
But like Juan in those fields, I went back to the fundamentals.
 
Be consistent.
Work hard.
Keep showing up.
 
When I first started delivering to Vistage groups years ago, I wasn’t very good. I was nervous. I doubted myself. But I kept practising. I kept refining. I kept turning up.
 
No guava branch. No tin can.
 
But the same principle.
 
The habits you build in tough seasons become the foundation for your breakthroughs.
 
Juan didn’t start by dreaming of the Hall of Fame.
 
He dreamed of a bicycle.
 
Sometimes we paralyse ourselves by thinking too big. The breakthrough often starts with a small, honest dream and disciplined daily effort.
 
 
3 Key Learnings 

• Your beginnings do not limit your destiny.
• Discipline learned in one area transfers into every other area.
• Small dreams, pursued consistently, lead to extraordinary outcomes. 

 
Resilience isn’t dramatic.
 
It’s repetitive.
 
It’s turning up when no one is watching.
It’s practising between two small holes in the ground.
It’s believing that your start does not define your finish.
 
And maybe the most powerful lesson of all?
 
Self-esteem grows from contribution.
 
Whether it’s driving oxen at six years old or delivering a masterclass to a room full of managing directors, when we give our best, we grow.
 
 
Thoughts for the Week 

1. Where in your life do you need to ask, “Why not?”
2. What small “bicycle” dream could you start working towards today?
3. Are you practising with intensity, even when no one is watching? 

Well, that’s it for this week. Have a wonderful week ahead, and keep believing.
 
Warm regards,
 
John

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