Me, me, me…. that is what most of you are doing. With your head up your own you know what, you are looking at how to make everything benefit you. I heard a saying once attributed to Confucius (I don’t know if it’s true but I know the statement has value), what you seek you will never find. This doesn’t make sense to those that have never really gotten after something but is really clear to those of us that have spent most of our lives in the trenches.
In trying to do we lose the ability to actually do. What? I am not the Riddler. Look at the process of achievement. The things you want really really bad require tons of small steps that add up to what you want. If we only look down the road at the finish line and don’t pay attention to the inches in front our face, we won’t make it to the end or it will take a long time due to tripping and fumbling along the path.
How does this relate to my 1st statement of me, me, me… Simple, if you are so concerned with how everything will work for you and you are ignoring the people around you, you will never get the max benefit or achieve what you set out to. You need to focus on the people around you, your consumers, your employees, and your peers. These are the people that define your value and dictate whether you will be a success or an isolated failure. You have to give, give, give… before you can ask for something. Me, me, me… gets you “no” while give, give, give… will put you in a position that is hard not to say “yes”.
Stop focusing on how everything will benefit you. Start working to benefit those around you. In the end YOU will reap all the rewards you set out to achieve plus more. This is the real secret that so many of us lose sight of. There is no shortcut beyond creating a value for yourself within the community you operate.
Seriously, take a minute and check your focus. Are you stressing about yourself and falling behind or are you observing those around you to create a knowledgebase that will inform your choices? Service is the key people! Be humble, be grateful, be observant, and always be interested as well as interesting!
Brian Wright