work dance

i know sometimes you want to just get up from your desk at work and walk right out – and never come back – and yell at the boss before you leave.  this thought has crossed the mind of every person in the world at some point in their lives.  it is human nature to get mad at someone and then want to immediately tell that person to “piss off”.  however we can’t do this and we all know why.  because it begins a domino effect in your life that could lead your life down a negative path.  you have to bite your tongue when these times arrive at your workplace – you have to keep your cool – you have to carry on with your emotions in check.  you have to do this to survive.  but the boss has to do this too.  the boss has to keep his/her cool to keep the employees happy.  they too are under the same pressure to not lose their cool – to not yell at the employee.  the boss has a lot to lose as well – that could also become a domino effect causing their business to go down or fail.  so you see it is a delicate dance between employee and boss.  each side needs to think about what the other side has to bear as well – to keep things going.  it is a double edge sword, so think about that next time you are ready to do something rash – there is pressure on both sides to keep the peace

time for failure

we hear about failure all the time.  we hear that you will fail at some point in your life.  we hear that failure is good for you.  we hear that you need to fail to get ahead – reach your goals – to ultimately succeed.  what a bunch of BS.  why do we want to fail.  why do we have to fail.  why do we embrace failure.  because we don’t have a choice.  failure is human nature.  we must fail.  we will fail.  if we know we are going to fail at some time, what do we do?  do we look for failure?  do we search for failure?  no.  what we do is recognize that there is a time for failure and we simply keep an eye out for it.  one day you will wake up and you will know that failure is near.  if this is true, then you need to prepare for failure.  you need to accept failure.  you need to embrace failure.  you need to complete the failure.  you need to finish the failure and move on.  you can’t let failure linger.  you must move quickly.  you must fail quickly.  you must recognize failure and you must act on that failure.  it is time for you to fail.  so go ahead and fail.  don’t delay failure.  be brave and fail so that you can move on and succeed.

lesson learned

every experience brings a lesson.  that lesson can slowly creep into your mind or it might come in a flash.  the key is to know the lesson learned.  when you wake up one day and say i know the lesson i am suppose to learn from this experience – then all is good.  you then know why you were put in this job or put in this situation – to learn this lesson.  and once you have learned that lesson, your time has been well spent – even if the experience did not end in success.  this experience was never going to end in the traditional definition of success.  but in reality, you did succeed because a lesson was placed there for you to discover and learn from – and if you did discover that lesson and you did learn from that lesson – then you have accomplished your mission for the experience, event, job, etc.  you can then take what you learned from that lesson and apply it to real life – to ultimately make you a better person – to make you understand yourself even more – to understand how to survive and thrive in this world – to help you interact with others in a better way.  if you fail at something, then you were meant to fail – and the main goal was not failure or success – but did you learn the key lesson.  don’t leave the failure behind until you have learned the key lesson and are ready to apply what you learned.  only then will you realize that every experience has a meaning – and that understanding that meaning is the key to a happy and fulfilled life.

focus on your value

don’t focus on trying to do all the jobs.  focus on the value you bring to the process.  don’t get jealous of others coming in and taking over other areas of the value chain.  be happy that they are contributing to the overall goal – their presence should not affect you – keep calm, keep your cool.  don’t let it defeat you, don’t let it get to you – this is a big test in your life – do not quit – keep pushing and learn from this new challenge.  do your job and leave the emotion out.  remember, this is a marathon – don’t make rash decisions – don’t panic.  you must control your emotions.  you must keep working.  keep your head down and let the actions speak for you.  it is not always going to be how you want it – there will always be things you have to do that you don’t want to do.  just do them and do them at the highest level.  you will be judged by the work you do in your area – and the ultimate end result of that work.  the longer you work at it and don’t quit – the better chance you have to reach the goal – but it won’t be easy.  this could be the time that you finally have to do things you don’t want to do and work with people you don’t want to work with – this is the ultimate challenge.  can you do this day after day without giving up.  this is the ultimate question.  if you get through this, then you will know what work is and what success is.  you must keep focused on the value you bring.  you would not be there if you did not have value.  fake it until you make it also means faking how you feel – not just faking what you know.  if you can fake how you feel, then you can truly reach greater heights.  you must not give up now – this is the challenge you have been waiting for.  you must meet it and accept what it brings,  you can do this.  if you cannot do this, then you will lose control of your destiny.

why must we go on

we must go on because it is in our nature.  it is in our nature to never give up, to fight to the finish, to give it all we got, to push through the hard times, to put up with things we don’t want to put up with, to work with people we really don’t want to work with, to see it through the end.  we have to bite our tongues, we have to learn to cope, we have to block it out, we have to smile when we don’t want to, we have to adapt to our surroundings, we have to keep doing what we are supposed to do, we have to just do it.  when you want to quit, when you want to walk out, when you want to give up, when you have had enough – you have to stop yourself and just go on and on and on.  just keep doing what you are doing and good things will come or you will know when it is time to move on – when you have gone on enough.  but for now, keep pushing on, keep going on, keep doing it.  you never know, all your hard work could pay off or it might not.  there is only one way to find out and that is to keep going on.

put it all on the table

don’t mess around when it comes to your life.  put it all on the table.  don’t fool yourself into thinking all is going well when it is not.  put it all on the table.  your job is not going well – you know it and your boss knows it.  don’t hide from this fact.  go to your boss and tell him how you feel.  tell him you know that things are not going according to plan.  tell him that we don’t want to waste each other’s time – that life is too short for that and that time & money should not be wasted.  put a deadline down to either turn things around or move on.  this is putting it all on the table.  this is listening to your gut telling you enough is enough – make it happen or move on.  move on to something that will work.  life is not cookie cutter and you must progress and survive any way you know how.  taking the risky job was a statement to yourself that you will take risks and you will go for those opportunities – but it is also a risk to put it on the table and to leave the risky job for the unknown.  these are the times where you will be challenged the most.  you have done this and you have done that – but you must keep going, you must keep taking the risks to get ahead – to have peace of mind in life – to wake up and breath a sigh of relief – that is what you are striving towards – so put it all on the table and keep doing so until that day of relief comes.  and when it does – start all over again.

writing on the wall

you work until the writing is on the wall.  that is how you go about your business.  do not panic.  do not hesitate.  do not fret.  do not 2nd guess.  do not try to assume.  just keep working with your head down and wait for things to tick up or until you see the writing on the wall.  you need to remain calm throughout this process.  don’t stay too long, but don’t leave too soon.  take the emotion out of the work.  don’t get spooked by the behaviors of others.  just keep plugging along, doing the best that you can do, doing the best that you know how to do.  don’t take your foot off the gas because you are in fear – that would be a mistake.  this is a test to see how long you can keep going regardless of the actions of others.  you will know when the time has come.  you will know when the writing is on the wall.  you can take action then and you can prepare for that action when the first signs appear.  this is a good policy to follow.  it will keep you from making rash decisions.  if you wait until you start to see the writing, then you will always be on the right path.  don’t let them take your work ethic, your pride, your dignity, your upbringing away – always maintain your demeanor and always be true to yourself.

dog days

not every day is great, as you know.  they say treat every day as if it is your last – which means live each day to the fullest.  but you and i know in the real world, that this idea is sometimes not possible.  as you sit in your cube in the office trying to focus on your work, you can’t really live that day to the fullest.  yes, you can live that day the best you can in the current circumstances of that day.  but it won’t feel like you are giving that day your best effort to live it to the fullest, because you are chained to a desk doing mundane tasks.  these are the dog days of life.  these are the days you are just trying to get through without losing your patience.  you must be very, very patient on these days.  the job you are doing should be exciting most of the time, but even the greatest jobs have dog days.  how do we make it through these days?  the only way to make it through is to pretend like you are running a marathon – where there are certain points of the race when it is very difficult to focus and push through – but you must do it to complete your current race – to complete your current goals.  you must keep your head down and just do the work on these dog days.  don’t stop, because you simply cannot afford to stop.  for all the great days, there are always dog days – and on those days, you must persevere.  you will feel better at the end of the week, month, year that you did push through – but it is hard to comprehend that idea when you are in the thick of the dog days.  push through.

working hard

what does this really mean?  it is a relative term.  some people think they are working hard, but they might not be working hard at all.  working hard is doing something at the highest output level.  you are giving it your best effort all through the day, week, year.  you feel tired at the end of the day and tired when you wake up in the morning – but you still want to go to work and put in the same effort as the day before.  we all work hard at times, but what we need to do is work hard all the time.  this will allow us to reach our highest potential in our career and in life.  there will always be time to not work so hard when we are older.  and we always have the weekends to relax.  always work hard at your highest level possible and you will not have any regrets in life.

get hands dirty

you must get your hands dirty to accomplish anything in this world.  in other words –stop standing around waiting for others to do the job –because they won’t.  you must get in there and make it happen.  you must do the small jobs on your own and not delegate others to do it –because they won’t.  if you start a job and then come up with a plan –and then do not do the things that the plan requires –you will fail.  you must get in there and do every little thing that the plan requires.  don’t be someone who draws up a plan and then expects others to do the plan.  you must do the plan.  you must get your hands dirty.  yes, it is tedious work.  yes, you believe that you have reached a point in your career where you don’t need to get your hands dirty anymore.  wrong!  if you are the ceo and shit needs to be done –then do it.  just keep doing what you have to do to succeed.  at the end of the day –if you want to keep getting paid –you must find a way to get things done.  if this requires you to get your hands dirty over and over –just do it.  waiting for someone else will lead to your failure.  get your hands dirty –end of story.  oh–and don’t complain so much.  this is just another attempt to avoid getting your hands dirty.  another way to failure.