When I say “your career is a river”, what I mean is it’s a journey. You jump in at the same time as a whole bunch of other people and start. Some start swimming aggressively, some really miss college and a small group say “F this”, climb out and go look for another headwater.

Along the way, you meet people who will ultimately turn out to change the course of your career. Bosses who tell you to calm down and take art lessons; Colleagues with whom you accomplish miracles and become life long friends; A random in passing who introduces you to someone at a lunch that becomes your business partner a few years out.

The point is, everyone’s journey is different and you don’t know which interaction or experience will be the one that was THE most important until it happens and you look back on it 5 years from now.

What I do know, and are two phrases I live by, are these: “Never ever ever give up”. And “it might be the next meeting that changes your life.”

Resilience is adaptation. When we started OneEnergy we were supposed to be a distressed credit play. We ended up as an operator in the Permian. It was very organic, data driven and we didn’t fixate on what others thought. The river took us where we needed to be. It will for you, too so grab a marg and settle in.