Ramble On: Lessons from Led Zeppelin
“I’m gonna ramble on.”
An off schedule post
This is an off-schedule post. That means something different or interesting is going on that warrants paying attention to. So, my friends, read on to find out more!
Planes, trains, and automobiles
Have you ever seen this 1987 movie with this title (Note 1)? It has Steve Martin and John Candy in it, and it’s funny, so you might think about watching it this weekend when you need a little chillin’ time.
We recently returned from Europe from a fantastic vacation, and during that time, we used all three forms of transportation listed above plus two additional ones: Boats and buses. Let me explain. We flew (planes) into Budapest to begin a Danube River Cruise (boat) with some really great friends and sailed through Hungary, Slovakia, Austria, and Germany, ending in Regensburg, Germany. Along the way, we were able to see some amazing history, eat fabulous food, drink great wine, meet interesting people, and see the absolutely stunning beauty of the countries we were in. Especially the Wachau Valley in Austria (Note 11).
If you have never done this cruise, I might suggest adding it to your bucket list. I must say that of all the vacations we have been on, this one has to be right there at, or near, the top. From Regensburg, we traveled to Munich (bus). We enjoyed a day in Munich and the next day traveled to Bruchmühlbach-Miesau (train), which is near Kaiserslautern (K-Town for all you former military folks) and near my daughter’s home while she is on her current assignment in Germany. We then took several local excursions with her and her boyfriend (car). When all of this was done, we flew home from Frankfurt, and that’s where my story begins.
The value of quiet time to read and enjoy movies
I love long airplane rides, if nothing else, but for the extended downtime and quiet. During the 10-hour airplane ride from Frankfurt to Dallas, I had a lot of time to read and even watch a few movies. You will hear more about my latest read, Principles by Ray Dalio (Note 2), in future posts. Let me just say that is a long, heavy, but absolutely fantastic read that is well worth your time. The gist of the book is that Mr. Dalio developed a set of principles that guided his personal and professional life. We would be hard-pressed to do better than understand and follow the business and life principles developed by a self-made billionaire who founded Bridgewater Associates (Note 3) and is one of the wealthiest men in the world.
I was also able to watch a couple of movies. One in particular, I want to describe to you and pass on a few life lessons. The film, titled Becoming Led Zeppelin (Note 4), was released just this year, 2025. It describes the journey of a few young men who loved music and formed a band called Led Zeppelin. Oh, these guys were not just musicians; they were businessmen as well, so think about that aspect, too. There are rumors that some of them struggled with drugs and alcohol, but that aspect is not really part of the movie and not something I want to dwell on. We all get that it is harmful behavior. At two hours, the movie is a bit long, but I lost track of the time as it was that interesting. Wait a second, is that a detour sign I see ahead?
Detour
Let me take a little detour here to tell you a story. One of the reasons I enjoyed the movie so much is that I was “coming of age” during the time that Led Zeppelin peaked in popularity, and I loved their raspy-voiced, head-banging, hard rock music. In 1977, their tour reached the Washington, D.C. area. I was a senior in high school at the time, in Northern Virginia. When tickets became available, you had to buy them in person, and in this case, at the Capital Center, which was in Maryland. So, a few of us, ugh um, well, you know, we kinda-like, “checked out” of school and drove to the Capital Center to stand in line and buy tickets. The tickets were $10.00 for open seating general admission, and there was a 20-ticket limit. I happily bought 20 tickets and then promptly offered them for sale back at home for $20.00 each. Viola! My first lesson in economics and investing! Oh, and yeah, it was quite the concert!
Back to rambling on
OK, I’m back off that detour and memory lane now. By any metric you can think of, Led Zeppelin was a huge success, and there are many important lessons for us if we pay attention as we watch the movie. I want to highlight three here, and you can get the others when you watch the movie. Life lessons from successful people are at the core of what we are teaching at Afterburner Success Partners, and this movie is a great way to make some of those points. Here are the lessons I want to talk about today:
No need to reinvent the wheel; learn and build from others who were successful. The movie is essentially a series of interviews with vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham (who died in 1980, leading to the band's breakup), interspersed with videos, music, and other aspects of their professional and personal lives. As you watch the movie and hear the band members speak, it becomes obvious how bands and other entertainers who came before them influenced the group Led Zeppelin. This concept, employed by the members of Led Zeppelin, that is, to learn and build upon what was successful by others, is a key principle of Afterburner Success Partners.
You don’t have to be old and experienced to be successful: The band members were young when they formed Led Zeppelin: Jimmy Page: 24, John Paul Jones: 22, John Bonham: 20, Robert Plant: 19. Other young successful people who were young and successful you may know include Bill Gates (19), Mark Zuckerberg (19) and Michael Dell (19). While age is not a requirement to be successful, having confidence and faith in yourself, disregarding what others say or think, and just working like crazy are required. Allow me to provide you with two current examples of this concept:
An August 28, 2025, article in the Wall Street Journal described the stunningly high salaries AI-trained workers can enjoy in their early 20s. For example, a generative-AI research scientist with as little as two years of experience can expect to make between $190,000 and $260,000 a year. This is without stock grants or other incentive compensation. The article goes on to describe some people who have the potential to be millionaires by the time they are 25 (Note 9).
The September 19, 2025, post entitled The Upside of Grindcore Culture: Work Hard, Profit Harder financialsamurai.com promotes the value of grinding hard in your 20s and 30s while saving and investing so after 15 or so years, you can transition from full-time work and enjoy the rest of your life as you please. No work-life balance for these 20-somethings. Instead, it’s a 996 culture: 9 am-9 pm six days a week.
We may question the degree of these examples of extremely hard work, but in fact, they are a key principle of Afterburner Success Partners, and that is to work hard to reach your goals.
Sometimes you just need to ramble on (Note 5): As you can imagine, the band members’ parents were not especially excited about their chosen path initially. Specifically, John Paul Jones, the bassist, had a father who was a musician and specifically advised him not to take up the bass as he thought it was a useless instrument. While I generally advise young adults to listen to the advice of their parents, the fact of the matter is, I do think it is essential to follow your passion, and that may conflict with advice from well-meaning people. For example, my father did not want me to join the Air Force, but I did it anyway, and it turned out to be perhaps the most crucial decision in my life. It’s the same with these young men of Led Zeppelin. Ramble On, written by Robert Plant and with references to J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, highlights Mordor and Gollum and their wandering search for something in a complicated world. Essentially, Plant said they were going to ramble on in hopes of finding success. Read the first few stanzas:
Leaves are fallin' all around
It's time I was on my way
Thanks to you, I'm much obliged
For such a pleasant stay
But now it's time for me to go
The autumn moon lights my way
For now, I smell the rain, and with it, pain
And it's headed my way
Ah, sometimes I grow so tired
But I know I've got one thing I've got to do
Ramble on
And now's the time, the time is now
Sing my song
I'm goin' 'round the world, I gotta find my girl
Yes, sometimes we just need to follow our dreams and passions and figure it out along the way. It’s the same as another lesson I teach, that of President John F. Kennedy announcing we would put a man on the moon in less than 10 years, and we did not have a clue how we would do it (Note 6).
Summary
So there you have it. A great movie about a hugely successful young rock band that, long before Afterburner Success Partners was formed, followed the lessons of success, and they probably did not even know it. We should all take those lessons to heart. Lessons core to the Afterburner Success Partners philosophy.
Encore
By the way, if you’ve never seen Jimmy Page play Stairway to Heaven on his Gibson double neck guitar (like I did in 1977), you gotta watch this video (Note 7).
That’s all for this week!
Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin Playing Double Neck Guitar
What’s in it for Me
It’s easier and more efficient to learn from those successful people who came before us.
Call to Action
Take the Afterburner Success Partners course or purchase the book Achieving Your Dreams: A Complete Guide to Live Your Best Life by David Giustozzi (Note 8).
Recommended Resources
Buy and read the book Achieving Your Dreams: A Complete Guide to Live Your Best Life by David Giustozzi, due out by September 30, 2025 (Note 8)
Up Next
Back to regular posting schedule.
Notes
Please note that as an Amazon Affiliate, I may earn a small commission on the sale of any of these recommended resources.
Planes, Trains and Automobiles: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093748/
Principles by Ray Dalio: https://amzn.to/3K540yV
Bridgewater Associates: https://www.bridgewater.com
Becoming Led Zeppelin: https://becomingledzeppelinfilm.com/synopsis/
Ramble On: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzGBQerkvWs
President John F. Kennedy speech: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQV9CAJWlVY
Jimmy Page playing double neck guitar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPg92yi8IFU
Achieving Your Dreams: A Complete Guide to Live Your Best Life by David Giustozzi: Due out by September 30, 2025
AI Workers in Their 20s Rake In High Salaries, The Wall Street Journal, August 28, 2025.
The Upside of Grindcore Culture: Work Hard, Profit Harder September 19, 2025, financialsamurai.com
Cruising Austria’s Scenic Wachau Valley: https://www.travelyesplease.com/travel-blog-wachau-valley-cruise/