In a World Where You Could Be Anyone, Be…
Are you where you need to be? If the answer isn’t yes, maybe you should take a hard look at what you should be putting out into the world so that you get there.
I often hear people complain that they are not making enough money, that they don’t get enough respect, or don’t have the title they deserve. If you know me, I am pretty blunt: direct and to the point. Let me tell you now, if you are not where you should be, if you don’t have all the things you deserve out of life, you need to take an honest look at yourself.
The problem with most unsuccessful people is that they don’t want to put in the hard work, nor do they want to take responsibility for their inadequacies, mistakes, or failures. Too often, they want to work 9-5, clock out, and not put in anything extra. Yet, they expect a huge payoff.
If people took the time spent complaining about how unfair life has been and directed it at learning a craft, or if they spent all that negative energy on positive thinking and honing in on a talent they could be a guru in, most would be right where they should be.
I want to take this time to talk about my Executive Assistant, Julie.
Julie is a real problem solver. She wakes up every day with the intent to learn, and- more importantly- to teach. She is a systems-driven individual who came to me with one powerful skill. Julie knew how to take action and execute. As long as I gave her direction and set up a map, she would take the baton and haul ass with it.
If I’m honest, she was not always the employee I felt I couldn’t live without. She always worked hard, but inexperience in the industry kept her a step behind her peers. What I did see in her, and continue to see in her is a woman who will -at all costs- take the time, including her personal time to learn. She will read books, listen to podcasts, ask me a million questions, ask our clients a million questions. Every day, Julie tries to be better and works to learn more. In turn, she then tries to teach those findings to our team.
So here we are, two years after I started working with Julie. Guess what? She is now that employee I do NOT want to live without. In the weeks leading up to any day off or vacation time that she takes, I have mild anxiety.
Julie never complains. If there is an unachievable expectation, she will approach myself or my partner, Travis, with well thought out, well-researched facts on why she thinks we need to set a different expectation for our project or task. If she is overruled, which rarely happens, she still takes the baton and sprints with everything she has to get us where we set out.
The other thing that Julie always maintains is kindness. No matter what we are doing, no matter what she is going through, she always remembers to be kind and considerate to our employees, clients, vendors, and contractors. In a world where we are all moving one thousand miles per second, at a place and time where civil unrest is an everyday occurrence, when there is a freaking pandemic, Julie thinks to ask me how my daughter’s driving test went. She thinks to ask clients how their children are, she checks in with people who aren’t making us any money and needs nothing from, simply because she managed to squeeze in 3 minutes to call and check in because she knew they were going through a rough spot.
So while this blog post today didn’t teach you how to implement any strategies that could make you money, its point was twofold. First, stop complaining and do something about your situation. Second, in a world where you can be anyone, be Julie: a hard-working, self-responsible, no holds barred, get-the-job-done badass, who also manages to be kind to everyone she comes across.
This week’s podcast episode, we talk to Tony Grebmeier from ShipOffers, where he shares a little more “be the change” philosophy.
Author: Emma Rainville