Dive

Thanksgiving is upon us so naturally posts and tweets are pouring in by people expressing their gratitude. During the holidays we tend to get sentimental. This year, instead of expressing my gratitude, I am going to issue a challenge:

Before we say Thank You, let's reflect....

Do You Really Love Your Job?
Our profession is our livelihood, so we tend to be apprehensive to make drastic changes. No company is perfect, people make mistakes, and systems fail. Life is imperfect and this allows for opportunity. But, do you really love your job?

Do a deep dive assessment of your current job:
~ Are you being challenged or are you settling?
~ Are the people around you invested in your progress?
~ Do the Leaders in your organization understand your challenges?
~ Do your products/services solve business issues?

Before you stuff your face with turkey, take a moment to deeply reflect on the questions above. Are you really thankful or are you pretending that everything is fine? Are you OK with everything being fine, or do you want more?

Just Do!
Time to flip the script. Any job can be great or terrible based on your perception and attitude. If you spend your days complaining about your job, QUIT! If you don't have any other options maybe its because you complain all the time.

Actions speak louder than words. If you are not achieving all you had planned to...take action. Wake up earlier, seek advice from others, learn more about the marketplace, challenge directives.

Complaining will only make your job worse. Get busy living or get busy dying!

Stop Pretending!
Are you complimentary of your superiors simply because you want to be on the "good list". If so, your lack of authenticity probably makes you look like a phony. It is disingenuous to smile at the very people you challenge from a bar stool.

~ If you do not respect your boss, manage up....there is an elegant way to expose inefficiencies.
~ If the top producer does not have sound advice for you...emulate someone else.
~ If that BIG customer you have been chasing treats you like a commodity...find another customer to chase.

Pretending to be someone you are not takes an extraordinary amount of effort and seldom produces meaningful results. Be yourself!

Stop Stealing!
Those who are truly passionate about their work are creative and authentic. They are consistently developing new ideas and are challenging those around them to be part of the solution.

If you emulate the ideas of your competitors, your existence is fraudulent!

The way to winning is to come up with a solution that is different. Stealing your competitors ideas and putting a cheaper price tag on them never works. Commodities are replaceable, you have to believe with all your being in what you are doing.

Do you believe in what you are doing?

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave