On 18^th February 1855, a French-Canadian cattle dealer called Louis Remme wandered into his local branch of the bank Adams & Company in Sacramento and deposited $12,500 in gold.

A few hours later, Louis heard that Page, Bacon & Company, one of the largest financial institutions in the US, had gone bust.

Louis raced back to his local branch but it was too late.  All the account holders had withdrawn their savings.  There was no money left and Louis’s gold was gone.

So what did he do?

Louis jumped on a horse and for the next 143 hours he rode 665 miles North, with only a couple of breaks for food and a nap.

When he arrived in Portland, Oregon, he marched straight to the local branch of Adams & Company, handed over his certificate of deposit and withdrew his $12,500.

Portland didn’t have a telegraph.  And Louis had outpaced the steamboat bearing news of his bank’s failure.

Clever old Louis!

Here’s why I bring this up: 

When I was dithering about quitting my job to plough my own furrow in the world of business, various tricky & unhelpful thoughts kept rearing their ugly head.

One of these thoughts was have I left it too late?

That might sound odd from someone who was the grand old age of 35. 

But what can I tell you?  Those thoughts were there, swirling round my head, clear as day and ready to be listened to.

Here’s what I realised though:

Asking the question “is there still time?” inevitably means there is.  The question itself is the tip-off.

Thing is, Louis Remme could’ve sat on his hands wailing “woe is me!” once he’d heard his bank had gone bust.

But he didn’t.  He sprung into action.

That’s not to say Louis’s plan was airtight.  Clearly he still could’ve lost all his dough.

But not because he’d convinced himself it was too late and thus proved himself right.

That's the nub of the matter.

All of which prompts the question:

Where do we stop ourselves starting before we’ve even begun?

Something to chew on perhaps.

That’s all for today.

 - Tom