If you want to produce great acorns, think like an oak, not like an acorn.
“Somewhere deep inside, you know what kind of person you were designed to be. If you want to produce great acorns, think like an oak, not like an acorn. Think like the person you intend to become, like the Christian question what would Jesus do? Ask yourself how would the person I’d like to be, do the things I am about to do.
The acorn has three parts: it’s got a stem, a cap, and a seed. And the stem represents its connection to the past, all the acorns and all the oaks that have ever existed in its line before are encoded in that, transferred through that stem, the legacy into this acorn. The cap holds on to the seed, until the seed is ready to grow on its own, so the cap represents your coaches, your mentors, your role models, your guides, your parents, your friends, your teachers. And when you’re ready to grow on your own, the seed of that acorn holds not only your potential but the potential of every future generation of acorns that will spring from that line.”
Jim Cathcart
You can listen to the rest of the speech here