It’s that time of year-- resolution making/breaking time.
For the last few weeks I’ve been writing professionally and reading personally about
goal-setting and various strategies to meet aspirations,
be happier, be more successful and productive in one's business and personal life.
Martha Beck, Gretchen Rubin, Inc. Magazine, Dave Kerpen, SheKnows, StatisticBrain, Health.com, Psychology Today, Huffington Post and
WebMD are just a few of the authors and sources I’ve turned to. There's a lot of good advice and theories out there, but man it wears me out sometimes just thinking about how much effort I should and could put into improving
myself and how to stay motivated while doing it.
Through some of my resolution reading I've learned I have
a “quick start” behavior personality-- i.e. I’m not one to review the manual when
I buy a new appliance and once I’ve made a decision on just about anything I
jump in with both feet. True to character, I decided to see if I could short-cut
my way to goal-reaching inspiration by talking to someone who tackles life and
work in what seems to be a stress-free, extremely positive manner. That someone
is my DH…dear husband.
Love this guy to death but turns out Sam can’t provide the
quick fix philosophical help I’m looking for. When I ask him what motivates him
work-wise, he answers without hesitation -- it’s the end-users, the children who
benefit and enjoy the cool products he sells to their schools year in and year
out.
But when I ask him what motivates him more generally he’s stumped.
Truly-- he’s puzzled so I take another route-- does he ever just dread getting
out of the bed some mornings to face a tough day? If so, what does he do to overcome this
feeling and face what he has in front of him? “Hmmm….nope, I just love mornings.
They’re exciting. I like thinking about what the day will bring.”
Argh. Really? Really.
But he’s not perfect (nor does he think he is) and when it comes to
motivational advice, he can’t seem to dish it out easily. I think this is because
at his core Sam is just inherently motivated… just about all the time, just
about every day about everything (except some specific home-repair projects I
wish he’d jump on!)
So how can this successful, naturally motivated guy provide a slug-like human such as me with insight when it comes to work/life improvement? Honestly, I wasn’t
sure at first but I decided to look at both his actions and his words
to help me zap some inspiration from him.
- Be who you are, but strive to improve (so goal-setting is worth it)
- Treat your clients like your friends (it puts the pressure on you when things go awry, but it’s worth it in the end)
- In business what you’re really selling is you, your reputation, your personality (remember this whether you work for yourself or someone else)
- Show a genuine interest in people and their families and they’ll be interested in your/yours (good business is all about relationships)
- Say what you’re going to do and do what you say… (integrity, follow-through counts)
- Never let the weather affect a good time (so… no excuses when it comes to exercise or anything else for that matter!)
- If you’re day isn’t going well or how you planned, divert to something else (don’t beat yourself up and have a plan B)
- Balance work and family, you’ll never regret it (it’s the main thing retired/veteran colleagues will nearly always tell you)
- Don’t worry about things you can’t control (i'll never be this Zen but this may be the ultimate secret to stress-control)
“You never know what’s out there or how your day might go
unless you get out there and give it a shot.”
Thanks hon-- who needs self-help
gurus or research when you’re here to teach this middle-aged dog some new
tricks?
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