"Keep the blinders off..."

This was the overall theme of the talk Drew Lachey gave on campus last night...

BSG (who is being extremely generous and bringing a lot of great performers to campus this semester and charging us next to nothing to attend) sponsored a talk given by Drew Lachey. Drew, as you probably know, is a former member of 98 Degrees, winner of Season Two of Dancing With the Stars, and a two time Broadway performer (Rent and Spamalot). This was a dream come true for me...I remember being in middle school when all of my friends and I were obsessed with 98 Degrees...

I thought I would be completely star struck when I saw him, but was amazed at how "normal" he was. The small audience made for a relaxed and casual setting. Drew walked in wearing jeans and a button-down shirt, took his phone and wallet out of his pocket and tossed them on the stage behind him, stood on the ground in front of the stage, and started talking about what he had just read in The Stylus. He spoke about his career and how he had gotten to where he is today. What struck me the most was how humble he was. Fame and spotlight haven't gotten to his head, and he made it clear that the "Hollywood lifestyle" isn't what he lives by, saying that your family and friends are what life is about, not your career.

So, I know it's taken me long enough to get back to relating the title of this post to my rambling. The most influential part of his talk dealt with setting goals while keeping an open mind. Drew noted that the most successful parts of his career (98 Degrees, Dancing with the Starts, etc) were opportunities that arised while he was pursuing other goals. He asked us to "keep the blinders off" and too not get so focused on planning everything out that we miss the opportunities that arise. Drew even quoted John Lennon by saying, "Life is what happens when you are busy planning other things".

I think this is a lesson we can all learn from. Sometimes we get wrapped up in making plans and setting goals, thinking that we need to be proactive in order to get opportunities, that we neglect to see the opportunities around us. The little insignificant things we do or interactions we have could lead us to the biggest opportunities...

So all in all it was a very successful and enjoyable night for me. I got my cd (that was a birthday present about ten years ago) autographed, a picture with Drew, and some really great advice for planning my career and accomplishing my goals.