Maybe You're Not Done Yet
Feb 27, 2026
Have you ever looked at yourself and said, “What’s the use? I might as well give up.”
Or, have you ever looked at another person and wondered the same thing?
Sometimes life has a way of making us think that we are stuck and can’t improve. But this week I learned an amazing story that completely flips the script on what it means to redefine your potential… even in the most difficult of times.
In the 1920s, Brazil’s booming coffee trade demanded a gateway to the world.
The only challenge was, in the southern metropolitan city of Sao Paulo, there wasn’t a building big enough to accommodate the surge of trade as well as the domestic travel needs of the Brazilians. And so in the 1920’s the government of Sao Paulo embarked on building the Júlio Prestes Station. With soaring Corinthian columns, white marble interiors, and a neo classical bell tower that pierced the sky, this train station had more in common with cathedrals than commerce.
But the timing couldn’t have been worse.
With the US stock market crash, violent political revolutions in Brazil, and the 2nd world war… pretty soon the thriving coffee trade that had carried the new train station on its shoulders collapsed, leaving this jewel of Sao Paulo slowly moldering into disrepair.
That is… until the 1990’s… when someone had an idea.
Seeing it’s vast open colonnades, its soaring domes, and ornate glass windows flooding the interior with a warm glow, it was clear this elegant train station had much more to give.
People wondered, what else could it be?
Then someone posed the striking idea: “What if it could be a concert hall?”
And so funding was approved, and over the course of a decade the old train station… which had been built on the coffee business… was transformed to give people a different kind of kick.
Music.
But this was to be no ordinary concert hall.
Special roofing tiles were designed to raise and lower according to the needs of different performances. Whether the hall needed to capture the soaring heights of a symphony, or caress the intimate moments of a Chopin piano sonata, the newly christened Sala Sao Paulo quickly established itself as one of the most acoustically versatile concert halls in the world.
And all while still preserving the majestic Corinthian columns drawing the eye … ever upwards.
So what does this have to do with you?
Have you ever felt a little like that train station?
Maybe you embarked on a new life direction filled with hope and promise…
Maybe you pursued an exciting opportunity…
Maybe you stretched yourself with confidence…
All to have life unexpectedly turn the tables, and flip the script, leaving you feeling stranded and whiplashed.
After your hard work, did you look back and ever ask: “What’s the use? I might as well give up.”
I know I have.
But like this old disused train station, maybe you had columns of concepts that still could carry great weight.
Maybe you had stained glass bright ideas that still cast things in a new light.
And maybe you had vaulted domes of designs that could still stretch the mind heavenward.
In short, maybe life wasn’t quite done with your hard work… just yet.
Rather, it had bigger plans in mind.
Which is exactly happened with the train station in Sao Paulo.
On July 9, 1999 when the Sao Paulo State Symphony Orchestra dedicated the newly refurbished edifice, what did they choose for the inaugural performance?
Mahler’s Symphony ā„–2.
The Resurrection Symphony.
On the journey of personal development, is effort and intention ever wasted?
No. It is reborn.
How’s that for a new train of thought?
Christian
CHRISTIAN HANSEN has gone behind the scenes in some of the biggest organizations in the world to find out the reasons why some people get chosen and why others don’t. As the #1 bestselling and LinkedIn Top Ten ranked author of “The Influence Mindset: The Art & Science of Getting People to Choose You” Christian helps teams and organizations who want to stand out and be the obvious choice. With degrees from Brigham Young University and The London School of Economics, he’s helped thousands of individuals position and sell themselves. A fan of international communication, history, and choral music, he currently lives in Utah with his wife. Reach him at: TheChristianHansen.com
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