While driving in the car one afternoon with my son, as we stopped at a light, I noticed a couple of men digging a ditch off to the side of the road. It’s September in South Florida, it’s two o’clock in the afternoon, 90+ degrees outside, 80%+ humidity, the sun is shining bright and bearing down on them and they’re digging a ditch. I turned to my right and told my son, “Zachary, now that’s real work!”
Then I thought and realized something interesting. I again turn to my son and said, “Zachary, do you know what my #1 job in my profession really is?” He then asked, “what dad?” I shared that “all I have to do is to keep my mind right, to keep my head on straight, to stay strong mentally and keep my thoughts positive. That’s really all I have to do! I master this and everything else will take care of itself.”
What’s interesting is that it’s no different for you! We are all hopefully great at our profession, we all should know our industry, we should all understand the strategies, systems, and solutions that we need to apply in our business. If we are not clear on this, we can always hire a coach to guide us correctly. However, essentially, we all know what to do, we all know how to apply it. However, in the end all we really have to do is to keep our heads on straight.
Think about this, as a leader in your organization your job is to be firm, calm and clear when you’re communicating with your team. You are to never get upset or let anyone take you off your A-game. When you are firm, calm, clear and concise, you will know that you’ve communicated correctly and you can confidently go back to your own area of work. When you have properly put everything in place in your organization, the proper structure, training, systems, and accountability, you will feel confident that your team will take that information and execute accordingly. In the end, all you have to do is stay on you’re A-game daily. That’s it!
How do we get and stay in that A-game type mentality daily? You actually have to practice it. The most important step is to start being intentional on where to focus your energy and attention. Master your morning hour of power, recite your affirmations, record in a daily gratitude journal, read thirty minutes a day for knowledge intake, practice being positive by not watching the news or letting any negative crap enter your head that doesn’t serve you, your organization, team, community or family. Work on consistently putting the right stuff in by studying and learning more, communicating and educating your team with on-going training. Let them know that we never, ever stop learning. We never, ever stop getting better. If we are on the quest of being our best day-in, day-out, our focus is naturally on that of moving forward and getting better.
Let’s face it, there are some real tough jobs out there. The one thing I’m sure of is that I don’t want to be outside in 90+ degree weather, 80%+ humidity, in the burning hot sun digging a ditch. No thank you!
We all hopefully do what we do well. However, the one thing we all need to master is right between our ears. Stay positive, keep your head on right, be intentional, stay clear, calm and concise in your communication and success will come. It’s as simple as that!
Heck, it’s easier than digging a ditch!