An Active Journey Towards Peace: In Conversation with Bill Draheim
This upcoming podcast I sit down with Bill Draheim, professional sailor and sail maker. Not only is Bill one of my dad’s closest friends, he is also the holder of over 30 national sailing championships. Talking with someone who has such a variety of experiences and expertise allowed us to dive into pursuing passion, utilizing competition, and leaving a positive impact on those around you. While Bill and I touched on a variety of different topics, throughout each one I found my mind returning to the concept of peace. While Bill has a very action-oriented life philosophy, each of these actions all lead back to creating a state of inner peace and fulfillment.
For Bill, finding peace is a process that takes diligent work. When we discussed his personal story, he recounted the one piece of advice his dad gave him that has always guided his actions: pursue what makes you happy. While this is a commonplace platitude, hearing it from a parent, who is speaking with the experience of hating their job, settles into your mind in a different way than hearing someone explain pursuing happiness in a different context. Once Bill decided that he would pursue a life of joy, he set down a path of identifying and honing his talent.
While talent may seem disparate from happiness, for Bill, they are intrinsically linked. He explained that true passion always stems from innate talent that we all have. While I’m not sure that passion necessarily relies on talent, I do think that each of us have unique and personal skills that make us who we are. For Bill, finding his talent allowed him to journey towards and passion, and it is this pursuit of passion that ultimately provided him peace.
Another way that Bill works towards peace is through competition. He believes that competition helps hone your individual talent, which therefore develops your own personal passion. Competition is an interactive way to help each other find your skills, develop them, and use them to progress personally and professionally. Competition and self growth both take purposeful actions in order to reach the happiness and peace that Bill describes.
With competition and self growth comes negative emotions, Bill explains. But he expresses how important it is not to turn away from these unpleasant moments. Bill says that unfavorable feelings are not only helpful, but necessary to the journey of talent development and achieving ultimate peace.
Bill also discussed how important running his own business has been to creating his ultimate peace and satisfaction. While running your own company takes tremendous effort and energy, Bill explains that the positives far outweigh the negatives for him. Because being your own boss allows you to establish a life tailored to your own talents and skill sets, you can achieve higher fulfillment and peace. Of course, this is based on Bill’s own personal measurement of success, but having control over your time is a powerful way to design your own life for happiness and peace, whatever that may mean for you.
For Bill, each of these different life elements are necessary to his own process of achieving peace, but the most important one to the impact he leaves on the world is being able to help other people. His expertise in his field has allowed Bill to share his own perspective on developing talents, finding happiness, and achieving peace with lots of other people. Helping other people is Bill’s most pressing and urgent question, and it is clear that being able to help others find personal freedom and lifelong peace is important to him. Whether this is through your personal skillsets, developing your own company, or pursuing your happiness, Bill believes that there is a pathway for anyone to to actionably develop peace in their daily life. Life doesn’t necessarily have an end purpose for Bill, but finding peace in the everyday is the purpose of the present moment.
To further explore the things discussed in this blog post, check out the below resources and recommendations.
Recommended by the Guest
Miracle (You can watch with a Disney+ Subscription or rent from Apple TV for 3.99)
Psychology Resources
Studies
Development of Children Adopted to the United States Following a Social-Emotional Intervention in St. Petersburg by Megan M. Julian et al. Read Here
I hope you all enjoyed this conversation with the wonderful Bill Draheim! Bill has had such a positive influence in my life and I’m so glad I’ve been able to share a fraction of his wisdom. If you want more content, subscribe to Making Meaning on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, and subscribe to the blog so you never miss a post! If you want to join the conversation, follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn @thecoherecollective and leave a comment sharing your thoughts on this episode. If you want more of Bill, follow Draheim Performance Sails on Facebook and check out the website at https://draheimperformancesailing.com/.
Until next time, so much love!
XX
Reese, Founder
The Cohere Collective
