RWDevCon Inspiration Talk – Possible by Tammy Coron

Fighting Fires

You may not know this about me, but I used to be a firefighter. Yeah, I know, it seems impossible, right? It’s true.

When I told people what I planned to do to join the fire department, some responded with negativity and skepticism. They said I couldn’t do it. They said I was too small, too weak, and a girl. Like I didn’t know I was a girl!

I ignored them, and despite an endless stream of cautionary commentary from what seemed like a countless amount of individuals, I decided to join the fire department anyway.

I walked into the firehouse and requested an application. I remember the guy who handed it to me. He was a bit of a jerk.

When he gave it to me he was sort of laughing and said something under his breath along the lines of, “Good luck with getting any help with that. No one wants a girl around here.” Later I would discover he was wrong.

After completing my physical, I submitted my application to the lieutenant. He understood that I didn’t have any experience. He also understood, after I confessed, that I was afraid of fire.

Afraid of fire?! Can you imagine that, a firefighter afraid of fire?

He wasn’t worried. He just smiled, he said, “It’s okay, we’ll help you.” Then he gave me this gigantic fire suit, it’s called turnout gear.

He showed me how to put it on. He said step into your boots and then pull it up over yourself. His name was Mike. He was an awesome guy, and he helped me out a lot.

Oh and that other man, the one who was laughing at me; guess what? He was nowhere to be found.

For the first few weeks on calls. I was nothing more than a “go for” girl. Go for this, go for that.

They needed to make sure I was serious about this before investing any resources or money into me. A lot of times people join the fire department and then they quit after a few weeks.

I was not one of those people. Once they realized I wasn’t going anywhere, they sent me to the fire academy where I spent a grueling and exhausting twelve weeks.

“For the next twelve weeks, you’re mine!”

We trained hard. We took part in drills with real fire, like the same fire I told Mike I was afraid of, that fire.

We were taught about a tiny little device that would alert our crew if we had a problem and hopefully help them locate us. This tiny little device is what could save your life, and we trained for that.

If you hear one go off, find it immediately and then get out of the building. As you might imagine, this is pretty darn stressful and it feels damn near impossible.

Somewhere around the fifth week I had an unexpected medical problem, one that required surgery. The trouble here is once you start the twelve weeks you have to finish all twelve weeks without missing a day. If you miss one day, you’re out.

You have to go back to the next session and start over from the beginning, and I didn’t want to do that. My doctor on the other hand, that’s exactly what he wanted me to do. He said, “You need to take it easy until you’re healed. You can’t go back. You need to relax.”

Obviously he didn’t know with whom he was dealing. There was no way I was going to let that get in my way. I had the surgery on a Friday, I returned to the academy on Monday making sure not to miss any time.

I pushed through the pain. I stayed motivated. At times, it felt impossible, but I kept going and I didn’t give up. I just kept pushing myself and pushing myself and pushing myself right into graduation.

Was it worth it? Absolutely. Was it hard? You bet.

Remember, things that are worth having aren’t always easy to get. If all things were easily achieved, then what’s the reward. What happens to our sense of accomplishment if everything is just handed to us?

Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice to have the occasional dog bone thrown your way, but here’s the thing, if you don’t work for something, then what’s the point?

Did you notice I didn’t say, “If you don’t work hard for something”? Working hard isn’t always necessary. Sometimes work is just work. It’s time, it’s energy and thought, but not necessarily hard.

Ten Thousand Hours

How many of you have heard of the ten thousand hour rule?

The ten thousand hour rule was popularized by Malcolm Gladwell in 2008 in his book Outliers, and it goes something like this. In order to become world-class in any field, ten thousand hours of dedicated time and deliberate practice is needed.

To illustrate his point, Malcolm cited a number of different examples from Bill Gates to The Beetles. He also wrote that “ten thousand hours is the magic number of greatness.” The magic number of greatness. What exactly did he mean by that?

I believe he meant exactly what my mom has been telling me all these years, that the impossible just takes a little longer. Apparently my mom, the jokester, left out the ten thousand hours part.

All kidding aside, when Malcolm talks about this rule he doesn’t mean that working ten thousand hours at something will guarantee you a table at the greats.

You won’t suddenly be crowned the master in your chosen field. Not at all.

He means that natural ability requires a huge investment of time in order to be manifested. Now he says this rule does not apply to sports; I disagree with him, but then again, I disagree with a lot of people about a lot of things. Just ask my mom.

I think that if you want something bad enough and you’re dedicated to doing the work that it takes to get it, then there is no reason you can’t manifest it. I know there is a lot of people who will disagree with me on that and fight me tooth and nail, but call me an optimist, I believe, I truly believe that anything is possible.