Never let them see you sweat. -Phil Slott
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I'm busier than you are. I have a full time job, a wife in medical residency, two kids, a startup, two music projects, a podcast and Hubski to help run. I'm wayyyy busier than you are.
What's that you say? You have four kids, a startup, work two jobs, have a grandmother that lives with you that has cancer, you're a Deacon at your church and you are a freelance writer?
-Okay, you win.
Geez. I guess when it comes down to it, most of us are pretty damn busy. I mean, it's all relative, right?
But there is something that separates a successful person from the rest of us busy humans. A successful person rarely complains about how busy they are.
They are the duck on the pond.
A duck on the pond appears to gracefully and effortlessly glide across the water. But the truth is, beneath the water that ducks little webbed feet are paddling at a feverish pace. You may not see it, but they are working hard.
Today I was on a conference call and someone showed up 15 minutes late. When they arrived they apologized and proceeded to list all the many reasons why they were busy. We are working on a new training program that is supposed to launch next thursday and we just hired a new person to oversee.... blah, blah, blah.
What I heard was, "my time is more valuable than yours. I don't possess the time management skills to perform my job. I make excuses. I am weak."
You have friends to commiserate with, don't bring it in to the workplace. If you are overwhelmed by your position, let your leader know in a professional way.
Don't be late. Don't complain about how busy you are and don't make excuses. We are all busy. Get there on time.
Be the duck on the pond.
Never be late unless you have a really good reason (example: car accident, family emergency). Those things are excusable. Late because of a lack of time management, not so much. If you are continuously late it shows that you are not yet ready to be involved with as many things as you might like.
My first boss ever had a great saying that I take to heart.
"Showing up early is showing up on time. Showing up on time is showing up a little late. Showing up late is showing up very late."
Basically, be early enough to ensure that you're properly prepared and ready to go so that events can start at their scheduled time. Even if you're a busy person, if you convince yourself you need to be there earlier than your supposed to, you'll almost never be late.
I completely agree. I always ask myself how people get put into professional positions when they act this way. I wonder this about many things relating to businesses. How do they succeed so greatly when they do xyz, etc..
Really though, how does one attain such a management level position when they act unprofessional in manners like this?
Time management is something I can forgive. But there are also people who just straight up think their lives are more important than yours. That when you ask them why they're 20 minutes late, they just shrug their shoulders or give a lame excuse. I can not stand people like that.
Your duck analogy is great. I've grown by leaps and bounds the last years at this. Every semester I've felt like the workload increased, but I've become much better at gracefully dealing with that.
- But there are also people who just straight up think their lives are more important than yours.
You have promised to show up at 8:00 a.m. You come at 8:20. The first thing you say is:
1) My alarm clock wasn't working.
2) Did you get my text? No? Damn technology.
3) You are justifiably angry. I can see that now your next meeting is delayed. I'm not sure how I can make it up to you, but if I'm ever late again, I would understand if you fire my ass.
4) What's the big deal?
thenewgreen keep rocking my world, dude.