By John Hagerman
“Dr. Seuss provides great career guidance to adults,” Jeanne Mock said at a recent presentation to adult students enrolled in the Takoda Institute Public Relations Specialist program in Minneapolis. During her presentation, Mock read several quotes from Suess’ Oh, the Places You’ll Go! Book. As Director of National Accounts for the Kids in Need Foundation, former Director of Community Relations for Target Corporation, as a former teacher, and as a full-time, life-long learner, Mock is a bit of an expert when it comes to where she’ll go next.
The theme of the event Mock was addressing was, Who Will You Become? Appropriately the first quote she used was “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.”
I never knew Dr. Seuss and I were such kindred spirits! I’ve been teaching public relations writing at the school for the past eight months and knew all the students in the room. They were instantly intrigued with Mock, and the quote. It resonated with me, too. One of the consistent themes in my lectures to the group has been, “It’s up to you to invent the future you want,” and the quote supported the theme. As Seuss implied, if you’re not going to steer your own course, then who’s going to do it for you?
Next up was, “Out there things can happen and frequently do to people as brainy and footsy as you. And when things start to happen, don’t worry. Don’t stew. Just go right along. You’ll start happening too.” I saw many of the students nodding their heads. I’m hoping they understood what Seuss and Mock were saying. What I understood from the quote was that the world keeps happening, whether you’re ready or not. You have a choice, fight what’s happening, or go “right along.” If you’re fighting the world, the world will simply pass you by and you’ll have wasted your energy for nothing. If you’re using your brains, and keep moving, pretty soon good things will start happening to you. You’ll save energy and have it to expend on what YOU want to happen. 
“You’ll be on your way up! You’ll be seeing great sights! You’ll join the high fliers who soar to the heights.” Seuss, and Mock, are absolutely right in telling us that if we’re the pilot of our own balloon, we can go high and far. What a wonderful image. When you’re not fighting the world, when you’re deciding which way to go, you’ll have energy to get wherever you’re heading. If you’ve got your eyes open it will be a wonderful, beautiful, high-flying journey.
“You won’t lag behind, because you’ll have the speed. You’ll pass the whole gang and you’ll soon take the lead. Wherever you fly, you’ll be best of the best. Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.” I’m an unapologetic cheerleader for my students, and for most people I meet, and this quote fits right in with that philosophy. Believe in yourself, and pilot your own balloon, and anything becomes possible. When you’re the pilot, you’re free to invent the destination.
Mock, and Seuss, wisely said not everything will be rosy and that bumps will occur. “All Alone! Whether you like it or not, Alone will be something you’ll be quite a lot. And when you’re alone, there’s a very good chance, you’ll meet things that scare you right out of your pants. There are some, down the road between hither and yon, that can scare you so much you won’t want to go on.” Fear is something we all face everyday. We regularly face dangers, both real and imagined, but it’s what we tell ourselves that makes it possible for us to go on. If the danger is real, then it’s up to us to change course, or mitigate the danger, or have the courage to go where we’re going despite the fear. But most of the things we fear are only things we tell ourselves are dangerous. In fact, if you look in the dictionary, fear is defined, as being something we think is dangerous. In other words, we make up a story that something is dangerous and then act as if the story were true. When you’re on your journey, before you turn away from something, look at it, is it really dangerous, or is it only the story of fear you made up speaking? When you understand the difference, then you can travel any road you tell yourself to travel. As Seuss says, “On and on you will hike. And I know you’ll hike far and face up to your problems, whatever they are.”
Fear and the unknown can create their own problems. “You’ll get mixed up, of course, as you already know. You’ll get mixed up with many strange birds as you go. So be sure when you step. Step with care and great tact and remember that Life’s a Great Balancing Act. Just never forget to be dexterous and deft. And never mix up your right foot with your left.” While life is often high flying and fun, often there are distractions and fears and “strange birds” that lure us off track. The key is to keep journeying on along the path that YOU set. As long as you are putting one foot in front of another, you’ll keep moving toward your destination. If you don’t let the “strange birds” or your fear stop you, and keep moving, you’ll get where you’re going.
“And will you succeed? Yes! You will, indeed! (98 and ¾ percent guaranteed. – KID, YOU’LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!”
Students, friends, clients, and even a few strangers, have all heard me say that they can make almost anything they want happen in their lives. All they have to do is to see and accept the world as it is, then set a course to change it for the better. If you’re not being distracted by the stories you tell yourself, if you’re seeing the world as it is, and if you’re willing to invent something better, then success will be yours indeed!
As Mock’s reading illustrated, Dr. Seuss is nothing if not inventive. He saw the world as it was, and saw the worlds he wanted to see, then aimed his talents down the road, kept moving one step at a time, and arrived at the destination he invented. Anyone who’s been a child or a parent in the last sixty years has traveled through the worlds Seuss created. If we let them, our journeys through those worlds can teach us lessons about how to create the worlds we want to exist.
“So…be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O’Shea, you’re off to Great Places! Today is your day? Your mountain is waiting, So…get on your way!“
What are you waiting for? It’s time to get started on your journey to “The Places You’ll Go!” and invent Who You Will Become.
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