An Old Man on a Flight Changed My View on Success

Potential without support is like dynamite without a spark

I board the plane at Heathrow Airport and search for my seat.

When I reach it, I see that it is next to a very old man.

I store my luggage, sit, and say hi to him.

We will be spending hours next to each other, and I believe it is polite to say hi to people next to me on a plane. Unless they have their eyes closed, which tells me they don’t want to speak to anyone.

The old man definitely wanted to speak, because he answered my hi with a line of questions about where I’m from, where I’m going, and what I do.

To be courteous, I asked him back, which was the permission he needed to share with me his whole life story in the 3-hour flight we shared.

What is it about planes that we like so much to tell our stories in them?

It isn’t the first time this has happened to me, but this one I won’t forget because of all the wisdom I learned in those three hours.

His story was touching, inspiring, and as rich as the lives of anyone who has lived almost a century. It isn’t my story to share, but the pearls of wisdom I learned, I believe he wouldn’t mind if I did.

In particular, was this beautiful analogy about human potential.

He said:

“Human potential is like dynamite.

You can have a lot of it, or a little of it. But without a spark, in both scenarios, the potential is useless.

The spark is what turns potential into something real.

But not every spark is the same.

A spark at the wrong time and wrong place can cause irreversible damage to the one with the potential and those around them.

But a spark at the right time and right place opens up opportunities unimaginable before just like dynamite opens new roads through the mountains.

All the people you spend your time with, can be a spark. And it doesn’t have to be big. Even one word can have the power to activate your potential.

Make sure to be around people who will be the right kind of spark for you. Find good mentors for yourself, they are the best kind of spark.

And don’t forget to be a good spark for the potential of others you will meet along your journey.”

I found this so profound and deep. We get so obsessed with the amount of potential we have, that we forget that it’s not the amount that matters, it’s the way we use it.

I have lived a short life compared to the old man, but I cannot count the number of people I have seen with an incredible amount of potential, who got triggered at the wrong time and wrong place. Some of them had their whole life destroyed because of that.

And on the other hand, I know people with very little potential, but with the right support system, have achieved incredible things.

And the people with high potential and the right spark, are the ones who are changing the world.

It doesn’t matter in which group we are. Realizing that the people we accept and keep in our lives have this amount of impact, forever changed my perspective on success.

I felt grateful for everyone who had activated my potential in a safe place and time, allowing me to reach new heights.

I could identify the explosions that hurt me and how they were actually triggered by people I shouldn’t have kept in my life.

Having this new perspective now, I have become way more careful about who I surround myself with.

Something else that impressed me was the way the old man treated me and the topic.

He said “human potential” and put no labels on it. And his kindness, in sharing life and career advice with me, had no hint of prejudice.

I would expect an old man to have a lot of prejudice and believe that as a woman I shouldn’t go after fulfilling my potential.

It was surprising he was telling me to find mentors and to use my potential, instead of saying the cliché that it’s time to find a husband and have kids now.

I have had so many young men in my life think and say the second one.

It looks like age does make us wiser.

We landed in Tirana and I had to say goodbye to the old man.

As I walked out of the airport with a smile, I thought to myself:

It takes so little to impact someone. One day I will see the results of the potential he unlocked in me with his profound wisdom. He was a good kind of spark, and I’m glad I said hi!