Starting up a business or beginning a new job can provide a great lesson in humility. I know that I have felt that myself. You have great intentions, ideas, and determination. But “stuff happens” and gets in the way. Lots of roadblocks are thrown your way. You make progress, you gain optimism – then more “stuff happens” to knock you back down. You start to build a foundation, then the structure of your job or business crashes around you.
In 1987, Tom P
etty’s house was mostly burned to the ground. His basement studio was one of the only places that survived. I think of it as the “center of his creativity and the core of his passion.” Tom rebuilt the house from that foundation. He wasn’t going to back down from anyone or anything – let alone an arsonist.
He wrote the song “I Won’t Back Down” as a short, simple, but clear pronouncement of his determination.
About the song, Andrew Leahey wrote: “A defiant song about standing up to one’s enemies, ‘I Won’t Back Down’ is directed at the person who set Petty’s house ablaze. ‘Gonna stand my ground / won’t be turned around,’ goes a line in the first verse, which calls to mind the charred ground where his original home once stood. Despite his personal connection to the lyrics, though, Petty turned ‘I Won’t Back Down’ into an anthem for anyone struggling against some sort of oppression. The song isn’t really about a house fire. It’s about resilience.”
So are you resilient? What is the fire burning down your house? How will you resolve to stand your ground, don’t back down, and don’t get turned around? As Tom Petty showed, when you still have the core of your creativity…the heart of you strength, you can build back. Be resilient. Don’t back down.
Here is a link to the song. And a sampling of the lyrics (written by Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne) are below. Thanks, Dennis Mansfield, a great coach, for calling this to my attention so I could listen to the real message.
“Well I won’t back down; no I won’t back down. You can stand me up at the gates of Hell, but I won’t back down. No I’ll stand my ground; won’t be turned around. And I’ll keep this world from dragging me down. Gonna stand my ground, and I won’t back down, in a world that keeps on pushin’ me around. But I’ll stand my ground, and I won’t back down.”
Will you back down? Or will you stand your ground?
