Back in 1902, James Allen published a book titled, “As A Man Thinketh.” In that little book of about 70 pages, Allen’s simple philosophy was that whatever we think about is exactly what we create. It has been a philosophy that has proven itself over and over again since 1902. That simple little book, along with other classics like Think And Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill (1937), helped build the self-help industry that inundates us today.
But Allen, Hill and a host of others had it right: whatever you think about you bring about. If your perception about others in your office is negative, you will find that your experiences with them are negative in nature. If you think your boss is a graduate of the Jerk-Boss School (I’m actually pretty sure that I once had a boss who actually displayed his Jerk-Boss School diploma on the wall), then your boss will end up being a jerk. You will hate your job because your boss is a jerk and most of the people you work with are jerks, and your customers are jerks and guess what? You hate your job. You’re getting just what you expect.
Barbara is not a happy woman. In her mind, the only way for her to find happiness at work is once she finds a new job. Now let me describe Barbara to you: she doesn’t smile, she closes her mind to any possibility of someone actually changing her mind about her work, she sits with legs crossed and arms folded protecting herself and no matter how much you may point out to her that she is resisting every opportunity to examine her own participation in her level of expectations, she will not change her mind. She will only be happy once she finds a new job.
There’s no sense helping her to see that the one common denominator of every bad job she’s ever had is actually her. She refuses to see it. “Don’t confuse me with facts, I’ve got my mind made up,” I can almost hear her saying to herself.
So it’s really no surprise that she hates her job. She hates the people she works with. She hates her boss. She hates her hours. She hates getting to work and having to put up with traffic. And I can only imagine how much the rest of the staff hate having her work there.
Is her solution to this predicament to find out why she hates her work? Will she work on finding out why her outlook on her job sucks? Will she even recognize that her attitude towards her work is brutal? No she will not. She will say she will finally be happy when she finds another job.
God help the poor soul who hires her because I will guarantee that at first it may be better for her, but over time her new job will be to blame for every bad thing in her life.
“But Kevin, you don’t understand,” I can hear some of you whining. You’re right. I don’t understand. I don’t want to understand. It’s not my problem it’s yours. I don’t burden you with my problems and it’s likely your co-workers don’t burden you with theirs. Get over yourself.
You choose to go to work each day. No one forces you (it IS a choice you make everyday – stop whining that you need the money to pay bills) to show up everyday. You can stop going any day you want. Stop making life so crappy for the others in your office. You’re making it tough for the rest of us.
As you think, so it is. If your job sucks, well maybe it’s not the job that sucks.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Monday, February 19, 2007
New Columns Coming
OK. So last week, on a phone call with a friend who shall remain Bev, it was explained to me that there was a need for not just Tips for Bosses which I have been writing lately, but Bev also explained about the need for Tips for Employees.
“But that’s just a given,” I pleaded. “People should already know what’s expected of them as employees.”
Apparently not. Bev explained a couple of things to me and now I see the need for Tips for Employees. So here it is. It’s the first in a series of Employee Tips to make life on the job a little better and a little smoother. We will take a break from Tips for Bosses this week and focus on the employees instead.
Looks like I have a juggling act ahead of me. I will see how easy it is to juggle back and forth between stuff for bosses (which should be required reading for employees to set a standard within their job for others, including their bosses, to rise to) and stuff for employees (which should be required reading for bosses as they too are employees of the company and set the standard for conduct).
Stay tuned. New columns are coming.
“But that’s just a given,” I pleaded. “People should already know what’s expected of them as employees.”
Apparently not. Bev explained a couple of things to me and now I see the need for Tips for Employees. So here it is. It’s the first in a series of Employee Tips to make life on the job a little better and a little smoother. We will take a break from Tips for Bosses this week and focus on the employees instead.
Looks like I have a juggling act ahead of me. I will see how easy it is to juggle back and forth between stuff for bosses (which should be required reading for employees to set a standard within their job for others, including their bosses, to rise to) and stuff for employees (which should be required reading for bosses as they too are employees of the company and set the standard for conduct).
Stay tuned. New columns are coming.
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Standing In Line
About 30 days ago, the US Government made it mandatory that anyone traveling to the USA would require a passport to gain admittance. Now, I don't begrudge the Americans for this new law, after all, every other country in the world requires a passport to gain entry into the USA. What my problem is, is the timing of it.
Now I know that we were given fair warning (over a full year as I recall), but that hasn't helped those who still leave it to the last minute. OK I'm one of them too. My old passport expired and frankly I just never got around to getting a new one. But I did get to experience one thing that I'm sure no one expected: lining up for hours in the outdoor elements waiting for entry into the passport office. Three times I lined up in the past three weeks, first alone then twice with Michelle as we needed some extra documentation for our paperwork on the second visit.
Longest time in line was 2 hours 45 minutes just to gain entry to the inside of the office and another 45 minutes inside before the application was processed. I can tell you this, lining up in July would have been far better than lining up in February.
But I left it to the last minute and this is my result. I just wish more people had it together so I didn't have to (that's a joke ... I get the "accountability" thing).
However, I made some friends in line, heard some great stories and found out where everyone else seems to be traveling to.
As only Canadians can do, we accept things without much fuss and make no excuses for leaving things to the last minute. But try to butt in line after waiting for almost three hours and somebody could get hurt. Don't push a Canadian waiting in the cold. We're polite but to a point.
Now I know that we were given fair warning (over a full year as I recall), but that hasn't helped those who still leave it to the last minute. OK I'm one of them too. My old passport expired and frankly I just never got around to getting a new one. But I did get to experience one thing that I'm sure no one expected: lining up for hours in the outdoor elements waiting for entry into the passport office. Three times I lined up in the past three weeks, first alone then twice with Michelle as we needed some extra documentation for our paperwork on the second visit.
Longest time in line was 2 hours 45 minutes just to gain entry to the inside of the office and another 45 minutes inside before the application was processed. I can tell you this, lining up in July would have been far better than lining up in February.
But I left it to the last minute and this is my result. I just wish more people had it together so I didn't have to (that's a joke ... I get the "accountability" thing).
However, I made some friends in line, heard some great stories and found out where everyone else seems to be traveling to.
As only Canadians can do, we accept things without much fuss and make no excuses for leaving things to the last minute. But try to butt in line after waiting for almost three hours and somebody could get hurt. Don't push a Canadian waiting in the cold. We're polite but to a point.
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