Tales from the Diplomatic Corps 6

Hey folks!

Another tale from the Diplomatic Corps, this time about my Singapore room mate Callum from Canada. Just like in his video interview, Callum is as energetic and dynamic in real life, maybe a direct result from being a competitive swimmer for a long time. However, having studied philosophy, Callum is never lost for some incredible wisdom and there is one piece that stuck to my mind which I would like to share with you.

As I mentioned above, Callum and I shared a room during the CEP seminar in Singapore. We arrived on Wednesday, the same day the big Welcome Dinner was to take place at our hotel. We moved in at 6pm and dinner would start at 8pm. Still, Callum and I decided to head over to the food court for a quick snack. You see, the great thing about posh dinners is that you have plenty of delicious food waiting for you. The bad thing is that it is literally waiting for you, since there is plenty of speeches to be made before you can tuck in.

On our way down, I asked Callum about his job as a sports marketeer, since it is a career I'm aspiring myself. I was mainly curious about how being self-employed is working out for him, because I always thought that you have to be really brave to found your own company. After all, if things don't work out, you have to go out of business and might have to pay debts until the day you die. However, Callum was very relaxed and said the following, which impressed me quite a bit:

"You know, it's actually no big deal. Basically, all you do is your due diligence and if the result is ok, you are good to go."

Once again, this does not only apply to the world of business. I think that no matter if you are a business man, an athlete, a student or whatever: It basically comes down to doing your due diligence: Is there a market for my business? Did I prepare well for this competition? Did I study for this exam? If the answer is "yes", then you should stop worrying and focus all your attention on your task. Callum did his due diligence and is now as successful as a business man as he was as a swimmer.

Apart from that he has also got some fine dancing moves (like he showed in his video), however, I am not too sure if due diligence is also responsible for those ;).