Butter on your waffles is a formula for finding happiness in life and trusting people
and not just about breakfast food.
Let me explain.
The great business author Jim Collins was in the throws of writing Beyond Entrepreneurship
with his co-author Bill Lazier.
Jim was having some feelings of inadequacy about his writing and was really struggling and
went to Bill for advice.
Jim was anticipating to get a talk about the need to push through it and gut it out. Instead
he got this question,
"Okay. So if you’re not having fun and we’re not having fun doing this, we should just stop.
“If we can’t find a way to make this fun, we shouldn’t be doing this.”
Well they go on to finish the book and the day after they turned in the manuscript
Bill had a heart attack and had a quintuple bypass surgery.
Here is where the waffles come in.
They used to meet every Saturday morning and have these waffle fests at the
Peninsula Creamery and after a few months the were sitting down and having waffles.
And Bill starts slathering butter all over his waffles and drowning them in syrup and
Jim says, "Bill what are you doing? You had a quintuple bypass surgery. You are
putting all this butter on your waffles!"
Bill looks at him and related his story of going into the operating room
“I bet they saw a smile on my face, because I’m going into the operating room. And I
all of a sudden knew. I mean, I knew without question, that if this was the end, I’m okay
with that.
Dorothy and I had a great run. I’ve lived my life the way I wanted to live it.
I have so many people in my life who I have loved and I love. I have already had a great life,
and nothing can take that away. And so I decided coming out of it, everything from here is
gravy and I’m going to lead my life and I’m putting the butter on my waffles.”
So live life to put butter on your waffles. Find a way to enjoy the life you have.
Life can be difficult but the more time you focus on finding the happiness and
fun in life the more butter you are putting on your waffles.
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