skills

We grow up as kids not wanting to be last. When we stood in groups or lines in gym class, none of us wanted to be picked last. Everyone wanted to know they were wanted. Being last meant a lot of things, and different things to different people, but 99% of us did not want to be picked last (regardless of why). That does not mean that we all wanted to be first. We just knew we did not want to be last. Yet someone had to be last. Someone always has to be last.

You can decide though if you are first or last. A colleague told me recently to allow your work to direct your opportunity. So when I recently came across this short and sweet Seth Godin blog, I was inspired, and in case you are not Godin followers, I had to share. I’ve included the entire text (yes all of it) here:

Before you’re asked.

Before she asks for the memo, before the customer asks for a refund, before your co-worker asks for help.

Volunteer.

Offer.

Imagine what the other person needs, an exercise in empathy that might become a habit.

I remember so often growing up that my dad ingrained in me to think ahead, to figure out how I was going to approach something before I did it. The funny thing — my dad barely had a strategic bone in his body. Sure, as a contractor he had to strategize house plans and such, but other than that I did not gain my strategic mind from my dad. In any case, he did teach us to think ahead and be prepared BEFORE he got to us. Have our room clean before he lost it. Do our chores before we had to be reminded. Ask how we could further help. Whether I like it or not, he taught me to be proactive. I wonder if he truly knows that or if it was more about what he wanted.

Ah well, I will never know. I do so love and appreciate those that I interact with on a daily basis to volunteer, offer their help and support, and think about what another might need. Anticipate. Be available and helpful. I try to do it, and I love when those around me reflect the same behavior. Do we all have these skills? I am not sure. I think we all have them in some form. Some of us just elect to use them and others let them lie dormant.

Be first.

In a recent work meeting, someone used the analogy of “changing the tires on a car while still moving” and juxtaposing it with doing too much at once. My ears were perked up during the conversation of doing too much, and seeing an image of men crawling out of a jeep while it is on two wheels AND moving, AND changing both tires that are in the air. Crazy you might say? Definitely. Take a moment to watch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQm5BnhTBEQ&feature=kp

Did you watch the entire clip? How do they do it? I mean first, how do they even drive like that, and then to change a tire on a moving vehicle, really? To do it all at once and not kill someone is entirely something else. It made me think: how often in life am I trying to drive on two wheels, change a tire, and not get killed? Do you ever talk on the phone in the car (hands free of course) and look down to check something, while also driving fast? We all probably do something maybe not so skillful as changing tires, but the moral is the same. I am the first to admit that I do WAY too much. I need to chill out, take a step back and think about what I am risking? How are the choices I make impacting my life and those that are close to me?

Stop changing the tires while driving.