A lesson from Bella’s Coast Guard day that every entrepreneur needs to hear.
ast week, I watched my daughter Bella step into her future.
She had been invited to Coast Guard Sector San Diego for a flight day—an exclusive opportunity only a handful of cadet appointees get. She and fellow appointee Will McHargue were scheduled to suit up, board a Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter, and fly north to Long Beach and back, practicing rescue swimmer hoist drills over the bay.
Sounds like a dream day, right?
They showed up early with their parents (me included), got briefed by officers, suited up in flight gear, and looked like future aviators ready for action. The excitement was real. You could feel it in the air.
Then…
BOOM.
A real-life SAR (Search and Rescue) call came in:
A missing boater off the coast of Catalina Island.
The helicopter that was supposed to take them up?
Gone. Reassigned to save a life.
Flight canceled.
Now here’s where the lesson hit me—not just as a parent, but as an entrepreneur.
Plans change. Missions don’t.
Bella could’ve been upset. So could Will. They’d prepped for this flight for weeks. But instead of disappointment, I watched them shift gears immediately.
They leaned in. They joined the real mission briefing.
They listened as the crew outlined the grid, risk zones, and fuel calculations.
They saw the rescue swimmer check his gear and the pilots prep with surgical precision.
They didn’t get the joyride.
They got the truth of the Coast Guard.
Entrepreneurs live this daily.
You wake up thinking the day’s going to go one way…
A new client.
A product launch.
A big interview or sale.
And then—bam.
The mission shifts.
A deadline gets crushed.
A deal falls through.
Or worse—a fire erupts and you’re the only one who can put it out.
And just like those pilots, you don’t get the luxury of complaining.
You regroup. Reassess. Execute.
Because in the entrepreneurial world—just like in the Coast Guard—the mission always comes first.
The mission = your vision.
Bella may not have flown that day, but she saw exactly what her future looks like.
Commitment.
Discipline.
Service.
Entrepreneurs need that same clarity.
Because your mission isn’t a goal.
It’s not “make $10K this month.”
It’s not “go viral on Instagram.”
Your mission is the why behind all of it.
Your purpose. Your reason. Your fire.
And just like Bella, you have to be willing to adapt—fast—when the plan gets thrown out the window.
Closing Thought
Before we left, the pilot came back and told them:
“We’ll get you back up there soon. But today, you saw something more important.”
Entrepreneurship is like that.
You think you’re here for the thrill—the freedom, the big payoff.
But some days, the biggest growth comes when you don’t get what you planned.
When you’re forced to show up anyway.
When the mission calls louder than the moment.
Stay focused. Stay ready.
And remember—the mission always comes first.
Want help staying on mission in your business?
This newsletter is for people like you. Entrepreneurs. Fighters. Visionaries.
People who don’t just want freedom… they want purpose.
See you in the next issue.
– Carlos