Robert Ballard Interview (page: 7 / 8) Discoverer of the Titanic	Print Interview

You're 48 now, what are you planning to do in the next 48 years?

Robert Ballard: Survive. I have so many things that I want to do. I have my own company that builds robots. I want to be a successful businessman. You only come on this planet once, so I'm trying to live six or seven lives simultaneously, just in case I don't get to come back. I like all aspects of life. I love writing. I just wrote my first spy thriller. That was a lot of fun. I started doing children's books, because I love children. We did the Jason Project for kids. I'm still a naval officer, very proud of that. I just recently got married, and I'm all excited about that. There are a million things to do.

Looking back on those first 48 years if you will, there was some bad luck, too. There were some tragedies.

Robert Ballard: Yes, I lost my boy. I think that whenever things are going great, you are going to get zinged. I couldn't have been at a higher point in my life. I had already found the Titanic. I was able to add to that point, when I found the Bismarck. Then to have my boy die, who had been with me for three years at sea. I went to the bottom.

How did he die?

Get the Flash Player to see this video. Robert Ballard: He died in a car accident. He had been with me in tough, dangerous settings. He worked the deck in storms, where a father wants to not let his son be out there, but he can't say that, because he's got to be out there with everyone else, and to just be terrified that he was going to get injured in the heavy seas, with the heavy equipment. And then to have that all behind you, and take a sigh of relief that he is no longer at risk, and then to have him die the next week, when you weren't looking, when you weren't ready. It's devastating. To try to make that a positive experience -- for you, certainly not for him -- but to make the most out of your son's death is a big challenge.

[ Key to Success ] Perseverance

What were some of your other setbacks along the way?

Robert Ballard: People not believing me. It's getting a little easier, but it's funny how people will say, "I don't think you can do that." Then you do it, and they say "That was great" and you say, "Well, I've got this other idea." "Naw, I don't think you can do that." So you do it again.

Get the Flash Player to see this video. When I said I was going to find the Titanic, no one believed it. When I said I was going to find the Bismarck, everyone believed it, and then I failed in my first attempt to find the Bismarck. So people expect you to succeed, but they don't want to stick their own necks out, and so risk-taking can be very lonely at times. You know that classic saying, which is very true: "Failure is an orphan, but success has many fathers." I'll tell you, when I'm most at risk, I look around, and there are not a whole lot of people there. But as soon as I succeed, they say, "We were always there." And I say, "Yeah, but 500 miles behind me." You have to learn to accept that. You have to know that when it gets dicey, and there is a lot on the line, you are going to find out who your friends are, not at the party afterwards.

[ Key to Success ] Perseverance

Did these setbacks reaffirm your direction in life, or give you second thoughts? Did you have doubts about your work, your abilities, or your style of living?

Robert Ballard: Yes. A massive failure causes you to rethink everything, but if you thought it out right in the first place, when you review the logic that sent you down that path, you say "Well, that's pretty good logic. I'd better keep going." I always said to my son, before he died, "If you stay in the game, it's never over. It may be a bad inning, but if you don't quit you can't lose. You only lose when you quit. So hang in there, and you will succeed." I am convinced that if you can think it out, and dream it, you can do it. It's just a question of how much you want to do it. What life does is test your determination. That's the important thing. Don't give up. And guess what, you'll make it.

What advice would you give to young people, just beginning their careers?

Robert Ballard: You have to build confidence. Most important, you have to like yourself. Not to be egotistic about it, but to come to grips with yourself.

Get the Flash Player to see this video. Most of the time you are growing up, people tell you what's wrong with you. Your coach tells you, your parents tell you, the teachers tell you when they grade you. I think that that's good in the early stages, because it helps you then develop skills. But at some point in your career, generally I think when you are in your teens, you look in a mirror and you have to say, despite all the bumps and warts, "I like that person I'm looking at, and let's just do our best. "

[ Key to Success ] Integrity

It's that point, where you start to take what's good about you and polish it like an apple.

Get the Flash Player to see this video. I think everyone is unique. We know that. The only way you find out what you are is by trying everything, and then at some point you take what you are, which is unique. Don't ever try to mimic anybody, because you will only be second best. You can never outshine the thing you are trying to mimic, so don't ever do that. Don't idol worship. Finally, be yourself. Then you are going to be really unique and exciting. People are going to beat a path to your door if you polish your inner self.

[ Key to Success ] The American Dream

I think Joseph Campbell summarized it: "Life is the act of becoming, you never arrive." People plan a lifetime to climb Mount Everest, and they only stay up there five minutes. It isn't the view they're after, it's the fact that they made it. It's in the act of becoming that you learn about life. You learn about yourself. The only way you are going to discover that is to try. And I always say to a kid, "If you scale a mountain a thousand feet high and fall off of it, you are going to break your neck. So scale one a hundred thousand feet high. If you fall off it, you are still going to break your neck." I believe that it's just as difficult to do something easy as to do something difficult. You get up in the morning, you put on your pants, and you work till you go to bed at night. So shoot for a big one. There is no added risk in shooting for a tall mountain. But what's so beautiful about a tall mountain is, when you get to the top of it, you can see over all the other smaller mountains, and you can see these other peaks. The most exciting thing about success is being able to meet the people on those other peaks, and learn how they got there. You'll find that whether it's in the arts, or science, or in sports, it's still the climbing process. So there isn't any specific mountain that's unique. Don't spend all your time trying to figure out which big mountain. Pick the closest one, and climb it.

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