Meet Your Goals By Adding Value to Others
The other day someone told me a story about her son, a young adult who was working at a job he is not so crazy about.
After graduating from college, he has been unable to land a position in the field for which he prepared.
So the job he has is paying the bills, but not as well as he hoped, and he is angry and resentful about it.
And he's complaining a lot.
This was not at all his goal.
Of course anyone who listens to the news or talks to their neighbors knows this is unfortunately a common story.
Some may even comment that this young man is lucky to have a job at all.
No doubt he has already heard that, and I doubt that it cheered him up much.
It made me wonder if he might identify with another young man, we'll call Tim, who was serving tables at a restaurant where a friend and I were eating dinner a couple of weeks ago.
It is an upscale place, nice atmosphere, varied menu and good food.
What seemed a little discordant was the server's manner and attitude.
Not exactly rude, but too casual and unconcerned.
His service was like that too, and it took several requests to get what we wanted and needed.
He was slow, and we waited for some time for our coffee refills and checks at the end of the meal.
Luckily, we were enjoying our conversation, so were somewhat distracted.
It seemed obvious to me that he was unhappy about his job.
I know from personal experiences of my own that waiting tables is hard work, and putting up with some customers makes it difficult at times.
I would never leave without tipping because of that, but I can assure you that Tim would have made out a lot better had he added value to our dining experience instead of taking away from it.
Contrast this with another person, a woman who was laid off from her professional job due to funding cut-backs.
After weeks of looking, she was able to find a job with a local florist.
She liked the company and the people she worked with, but the pay was considerably less than she had been earning.
She had to cut back on expenses to make ends meet.
She could be upset and complaining about this, but she isn't.
Instead she is investing her energy and attention in this job, not just showing up and putting in her time.
She isn't treating it like a sort of temporary gig that she is just getting through until something better comes along.
She was attentive and eager to learn the new skills in caring for flowers and arranging them.
On her own time she looked up more information that added value to her work and to her employer's business.
She had some ideas about the business end from her past professional experiences, and her boss was happy and appreciative of those ideas and implemented them.
I have been impressed with her optimism and cheerfulness as she deals with customers and co-workers.
I think that her customers will not only be happy to pay for the arrangements she produces, but will probably tell their friends what a great place that shop is.
When you have a great customer service experience, don't you recommend that place to your friends? I know I do.
When you go to work, either paid or volunteer, do you add value to the experiences of other people? When you interact, do you invest your attention and energies to the situation at hand? There are two good reasons to do that.
• You will be of much greater service to others.
Your employer or the organization is going to profit from your focus and positive work ethic.
Even if it is not the ultimate goal of your lifetime, it will more likely lead to recognition, good networking and eventually a next step in the right direction for your life.
• You are going to benefit because a positive attitude is energizing and promotes good mental and physical health.
When you are going out of your way to learn new things, perform more efficiently and support and help others, you are much happier in general.
Moving forward is so much easier in this way than when you are resentful or fearful that you aren't doing what you hoped you would be.
• We tend to attract what we are "putting out there.
" So if you are feeling negative, you convey that to everyone around you whether you try to cover it up or not.
Your unconscious mind is communicating with every other unconscious mind around you, and the results or feedback (or paycheck or tip) that you get reflects it.
If people are giving you wide berth, you might ask yourself why and listen for an honest answer.
When it comes down to it, today is the day that you have.
No matter if you were guaranteed to live to 100, all you really have to work with is the moment you are in.
Living in the past, or wishing for the future will not help you live the life of your dreams.
If you are waiting around for things to get better, stop it now! No matter what your situation is, you have the power to add value to others and yourself by waking up to the possibilities, taking action and doing whatever you can to make your little part of the world a better place.
I urge you to do so.
After graduating from college, he has been unable to land a position in the field for which he prepared.
So the job he has is paying the bills, but not as well as he hoped, and he is angry and resentful about it.
And he's complaining a lot.
This was not at all his goal.
Of course anyone who listens to the news or talks to their neighbors knows this is unfortunately a common story.
Some may even comment that this young man is lucky to have a job at all.
No doubt he has already heard that, and I doubt that it cheered him up much.
It made me wonder if he might identify with another young man, we'll call Tim, who was serving tables at a restaurant where a friend and I were eating dinner a couple of weeks ago.
It is an upscale place, nice atmosphere, varied menu and good food.
What seemed a little discordant was the server's manner and attitude.
Not exactly rude, but too casual and unconcerned.
His service was like that too, and it took several requests to get what we wanted and needed.
He was slow, and we waited for some time for our coffee refills and checks at the end of the meal.
Luckily, we were enjoying our conversation, so were somewhat distracted.
It seemed obvious to me that he was unhappy about his job.
I know from personal experiences of my own that waiting tables is hard work, and putting up with some customers makes it difficult at times.
I would never leave without tipping because of that, but I can assure you that Tim would have made out a lot better had he added value to our dining experience instead of taking away from it.
Contrast this with another person, a woman who was laid off from her professional job due to funding cut-backs.
After weeks of looking, she was able to find a job with a local florist.
She liked the company and the people she worked with, but the pay was considerably less than she had been earning.
She had to cut back on expenses to make ends meet.
She could be upset and complaining about this, but she isn't.
Instead she is investing her energy and attention in this job, not just showing up and putting in her time.
She isn't treating it like a sort of temporary gig that she is just getting through until something better comes along.
She was attentive and eager to learn the new skills in caring for flowers and arranging them.
On her own time she looked up more information that added value to her work and to her employer's business.
She had some ideas about the business end from her past professional experiences, and her boss was happy and appreciative of those ideas and implemented them.
I have been impressed with her optimism and cheerfulness as she deals with customers and co-workers.
I think that her customers will not only be happy to pay for the arrangements she produces, but will probably tell their friends what a great place that shop is.
When you have a great customer service experience, don't you recommend that place to your friends? I know I do.
When you go to work, either paid or volunteer, do you add value to the experiences of other people? When you interact, do you invest your attention and energies to the situation at hand? There are two good reasons to do that.
• You will be of much greater service to others.
Your employer or the organization is going to profit from your focus and positive work ethic.
Even if it is not the ultimate goal of your lifetime, it will more likely lead to recognition, good networking and eventually a next step in the right direction for your life.
• You are going to benefit because a positive attitude is energizing and promotes good mental and physical health.
When you are going out of your way to learn new things, perform more efficiently and support and help others, you are much happier in general.
Moving forward is so much easier in this way than when you are resentful or fearful that you aren't doing what you hoped you would be.
• We tend to attract what we are "putting out there.
" So if you are feeling negative, you convey that to everyone around you whether you try to cover it up or not.
Your unconscious mind is communicating with every other unconscious mind around you, and the results or feedback (or paycheck or tip) that you get reflects it.
If people are giving you wide berth, you might ask yourself why and listen for an honest answer.
When it comes down to it, today is the day that you have.
No matter if you were guaranteed to live to 100, all you really have to work with is the moment you are in.
Living in the past, or wishing for the future will not help you live the life of your dreams.
If you are waiting around for things to get better, stop it now! No matter what your situation is, you have the power to add value to others and yourself by waking up to the possibilities, taking action and doing whatever you can to make your little part of the world a better place.
I urge you to do so.
