The Diamond Farmer and a Pirate’s Bounty!
Wednesday, January 31, 2018 - Joe Kiedinger
Have you heard the metaphor about determination? A young man saw a farm for sale. A particular acre was dug down about two feet. The young man knocked on the door. An old man came out and explained that this was a diamond farm. He had started digging ten years ago and had found nothing so far.
The young man bought the farm. He was twenty. For forty years he dug until the acre was dug down ten feet. He had enough of digging and put the farm up for sale. 
A young man knocked on the door asking about the property and why there was a 10-foot hole the size of an acre. The older man explained he was told it was a diamond farm but he has found nothing and has had it with the property.
The young man made a low-ball offer. After all, there was a big hole in the property. The older man accepted. The young man grabbed a shovel, entered the hole and began to dig. On his third attempt… “clunk”. He hit diamonds.
When you believe in something, never give up! Mel Fisher lived this metaphor. Mel did research on the Atocha, a Spanish ship that went down in a storm off the shores of Florida in the 1600s. It was filled with about a billion dollars worth of gems, “piece of eight” coins, artifacts and silver bars. All these items were well-documented in Spanish texts.
In 1969, he began searching for the wreck. When he ran out of money, he found investors to fund him for another period of time. His motto was, “Today’s the day!” Well, on July 20th, 1985, the day actually was the day. Mel found the front half of the ship buried in 15 feet of sand off Key West. He raised approximately $500 million in bounty!
His team has not yet found the back half of the ship as it was spread over several miles from hundreds of years of sea movement.
Today, you can visit Key West and visit Mel’s museum. You can even buy some of the treasure that was found. A real life treasure hunter with grit and passion.
Do you believe in something? Have you given up? Perhaps today’s the day!
Joe Kiedinger
ACTION PLAN: What should you stop doing, what should you continue doing, and what should you start doing?