Dash of Courage: More Melted Clocks

"Whoever wants to engage people's interest must provoke them." - Salvador Dali

The world applauds creativity, only after it succeeds.

At first? Originality gets laughed at.
Rejected. Dismissed as "too weird."

But in 1931, a 27-year-old took a brush to canvas and painted what had never been seen before:
Melted Clocks.

People thought he was nuts.
Critics called it nonsense.
But Salvador Dali didn't paint to fit in.
He painted what was true to him. 

He broke the rules.
Ignored the trends. 
And made history.

Today, The Persistence of Memory hangs in museums. 
A surreal reminder of what happens when someone trusts their imagination, even when the world doesn't.

And yet, most people still bury their boldest ideas.
Not because they're flawed,
because they're unfamiliar.

Creativity unsettles the system.
It challenges comfort.
It disrupts predictability.

And it takes more than talent, it demands courage.

I learned that the hard way.

Five years out of college, I co-founded a study abroad program called Global L.E.A.D.

And it was anything but normal. 

We didn't just rethink the curriculum, we reimagined the experience.

Instead of endless lectures, we designed one week each of
Leadership.
Education (outside the classroom)
Adventure
Diplomacy

Instead of a quiet launch, we traveled 100 days across Africa.
From Kenya to Cape Town, we filmed it all.

Rather than art classes and alcohol in Europe, we anchored in Africa.

Our Melted Clock?
We made Service, a Safari, and Shark Cage Diving...part of the curriculum.

The University questioned it.
But the students? They loved it. 

One advisor told us it would never work.
But the world bends for those bold enough to shape it. 

And over time?

The market moved in our direction.
Because we didn't build something safe.

We built something true.

We all have a Clock to Melt
Here are three ways to start:

1. Break Your Own Mold
Do the thing you're not "qualified" for. Start before you're ready. Reinvent the way it's always been done—even if it scares you.

2. Build What's Missing
Don't wait for permission, proof, or a blueprint. Create the thing you wish existed. Start the idea that makes people raise an eyebrow.

3. Trade Safe for True
Stop curating your life to be acceptable. Start living in a way that's authentic, bold, and a little hard to explain. 

Dash of Courage

The world doesn't need another copy of a key.
We need more Melted Clocks.
More courage to create from a blank canvas.
More leaders choosing vision over validation. 

Because safe never sparked a movement. 

What's your Melted Clock?
The masterpiece begins the moment you stop asking for permission.
Have a Dash of Courage...and Melt the Clock.

Courage over Comfort,
Garrett