Building Bridges for Success

Last week Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, founder of Space X and chief executive of Tesla Motors, tweeted he would build a test track for a Hyperloop transport system most likely in Texas. The track will be for companies and students to test out their pods. He also tweeted that he is thinking of having an annual hyperloop pod racer like Formula SAE, a student design competition organized by SAE International.

Mr Musk who is also the founder of PayPal, first announced plans for the Hyperloop in August 2013. The plan is an ambitious one which he envisages the system could transport passengers between Los Angeles and San Francisco in less than 30 minutes thanks to an innovative design that Musk has described as a cross between Concorde, a railgun and an air hockey table. His announcement last has taken us a step closer to the realities of a transport system that could theoretically travel at speeds of up to 700 miles per hour. Essentially, passengers would sit in cars that were then fired down a tube which had had most of its air removed. A system of magnets would accelerate and brake the capsules, and also keep them from touching the sides of the tube.

Picture for a moment living in a city where our homes are connected tubes that are then linked to a main tube that leads to central location. For example, I live in the Heartlake area of Brampton, rather than getting into my car and head south on the 410 to get to Toronto I would instead jump in my pod and rocket off Toronto Union Station. At speed of up to 700 miles per hour, I would be in Toronto Union Station in no time.

The announcement by Elon Musk had me thinking about success and how important it is to build bridges for success. There are three important lessons for success that I take away from Elon Musk’s announcement. They are:

Share your Vision

In building bridges for success it is imperative that you share your vision with others. The purpose of this is to engage our others in sharing and making your vision come to fruition. We note that Elon Musk first made the announcement of his audacious hyperloop from as far back as August 2013 during a Google-sponsored event with fellow entrepreneur and space explorer Richard Branson. He noted "You want the future to be better than the past – or at least I do, quite a bit."

To build bridges for success you have to share your vision with others. Have you shared your vision for 2015? Who have you share it with?

We cannot do it alone

In order to be successful we need the help of others. We cannot get to the top alone. We have to create strategic alliances with others who can help us along the path. Our connections can help us deepen our skill set and acquire additional resources that we need to succeed. Elon Musk recognises that building the Hyperloop by itself will not be enough to bring his dream of hyperloop transport system into reality. It is for this reason he is thinking about a Hyperloop pod racer for companies and students similar to Formula SAE. This is will continue to fuel research into technology and system that could one day be economically viable. Currently, there are some 100 engineers from across the US are working on the development of the system. However, they are at least 10 years away from a commercially operating Hyperloop.

Who would you like to help you make your dream a reality?

3. What will it take?

You have to know or at least have an idea of what it will take to turn you dream into reality. Mr Musk said that a passenger-only model would cost about $6bn and that a prototype would take three or four years to complete. Already there is a crowd-funded California-based project - Hyperloop Transportation Technologies - that has begun thinking about how such a system could be constructed, although they have not yet produced a working prototype.

What is your dream? What’s your vision? What will it take to turn your vision into reality?

May I encourage your to build bridges for success. Remember your objective should be to enhance your confidence, skills and success. The bridges you build for success should provide you with a platform to face challenges and barriers. It should give you the opportunity to experience a happy life and the fruits of success.

Mark McKenzie is a leading Subject Matter Expert in financial services regulation and supervision as well as a professional motivational speaker, corporate trainer and youth mentor.  He can be contacted by email mastbmckenzie@gmail.com or by telephone 647-406-4622. Read my blog http://mastbmckenzie.blogspot.ca/ and always write me a comment and share. Follow me on Twitter @mackynacky. Connect with me on www.youtube.com, Google+, Facebook and Linkedin.