I don’t know if you’ve heard of Jeff Johnson but he’s one of the more interesting guys out there. He grew up on Ohio and ended up at Toledo University with a legitimate goal of becoming an Olympic track athlete.
While at school, he became very involved in student politics and realized his other talent as an activist. The two (student activism and track) conflicted due to the time requirements to be good at each. Ultimately, he decided to pursue an activist, community leader path. It wasn’t easy because he had to quit a track team that had provided him a scholarship. But ultimately for Jeff it came down to a simple awareness that life was short, he was the owner, and while he felt a sense of obligation to the track team, it would be negligent for him to not pursue the best path for himself.
Today Jeff is one of the most dynamic young community leaders in our country. He does television and journalist work for BET, has served as an executive at NAACP in his 20’s, and has interviewed some of the world’s most sought out leaders (Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton). His most important work is the least recognized, in which he has guided and energized scores of emerging leaders around the country.
Here is an excerpt from my interview with Jeff in Washington DC last year:
It’s interesting to hear that part of your life at the University of Toledo when you decided to quit the track team and your scholarship to focus on a new direction in your life. How did you build that skill of independent thinking?
“I know for a fact that my parents taught me to be a thinker, to not simply just go with the flow, but to give thought about what I want and how to get it, what is happening around me and what does it mean. Sometimes I did it the wrong way, sometimes I did it the right way but I’ve always been a thinker and, and to a degree, in many cases I’ve been somewhat selfish. I’ve known what I’ve wanted and when I wanted it. So to me, some coach who at the end of the day is only going to be in my life for a certain period of time, who in the hell is he to tell me how I need to structure what is ultimately going to affect the rest of my life.”
Here’s the bottom line: For Jeff, and many others in life, having an independent streak is a key part of getting the most out of life. It’s logical as hell but it seems 90% of people don’t treat their lives with a proper sense of ownership.
They let others guide the direction of their life ““ in a broad sense but also micro level such as what to do on a given day ““ even when it’s not the best path for them. Obviously life is full of compromise and we can’t be stiff necked to the detriment of our relationships. But there is a way to be independent as hell and still be easy to be around.
From my interviews with folks like Jeff, it can’t go unnoticed that one of the key quality of life drivers is having a strong and proper sense of independence. Knowing what you want. Not compromising your pursuits based on what others think. Life is short. Don’t let others, with interests different than your own, tell you how to live it.