In the new Thomas Nelson book, Obstacles Welcome, author and CEO of AT&T Mobility Ralph de la Vega tells of his rise from a Cuban orphan to his position of business success. The business principles of have clear goals, work hard, and treat your people well are valid but not new.
The potential uniqueness of the book would have been in telling how that transition from leaving his family in Cuba at 10 years old to become a business leader occurred. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, those details of his personal story are missing.
I’ve always been drawn to the Horatio Alger kinds of stories that reveal how a person rejected desperate circumstances to rise to greatness anyway. Like the butterfly leaving the cocoon, challenging struggles often seem to release greatness in a way that a life of privilege never can.
At this point in my life I am truly grateful for the times of having to rise at 5:30 AM to milk cows as a 5-yr-old boy. Hey, I’m not asking for sympathy – rather, I suspect that environment increased my motivation to find work that was fulfilling, meaningful and profitable. Be careful of always looking for the easy path — you may never push life into your butterfly wings.
Tags: book, butterfly, obstacles, thomas nelson
Dan Miller's Blog 
January 8, 2010 at 3:25 pm
I have found once you clearly identify your obstacles – you then know exactly how to conquer your goals.
January 8, 2010 at 6:29 pm
I recently left my 40 hour plus week job with an hour round trip commute and am now working from home. I have had to be more creative and frugal with my finances, but I am so happy. Now I can wear my hair the way I want, get off early to go to a lecture or a book signing, hike or take a yoga class at 10 a.m. Life is good!