Turning a Weakness Into a Strength

An Introduction to Rich Pavlik

The best thing about working as a coach is that you meet the most remarkable people. In 2018, one of my season pass holders told me about an associate of hers by the name of Rich Pavlik who had been running his own carpet cleaning business for over 25 years. Ironically, he had been blind since just before he got married. I invited him to come to one of my seminars, and he became a season pass holder as well. In fact, over the next seven years, he took all 101 of my seminars at least once.

Embracing Challenges as Opportunities

As Rich and I got better acquainted, I learned a lot about him and his philosophy. First of all, Rich doesn’t know he’s blind — or at least he doesn’t act like he is. He does many things most sighted people do and probably a lot of other things that sighted people don’t bother to do. He doesn’t let anything hold him back, especially his blindness. But Rich wasn’t satisfied to just run one business, so he decided to start up another one called Blind Bean Roasters. He did this because he has a passion for great coffee and was dissatisfied with the convenience and quality of the coffee he had found on his own.

Using Adversity as a Conversation Starter

But the main lesson I want to impart to you about Rich Pavlik is that he never uses his blindness as a weakness. Instead, it’s a strength. It’s a conversation piece, in a way. People are drawn to him because of his outgoing and engaging personality. Rich is a walking entrepreneurial, underdog success story. You can’t help but be impressed by him and what he’s not afraid to do.

Your Turn to Rise Above

So, what about you? Are you letting any perceived weakness hold you back from being all you can be? I’m challenging you to take off the shackles and explore the possibilities of things you always wanted to do but somehow never got around to finishing. And when you discover that you’ve actually been able to achieve a goal that you’ve been procrastinating over in the past, why not give Rich Pavlik a call and discuss it with him over a good cup of coffee? I’m sure he’d love to hear all about it.

(This excerpt is taken from the seminar Designing Your Destiny.) I encourage you to click here to watch the Designing Your Destiny seminar video available at Romeo Network Online Learning.