“Even if you are on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.”
– Will Rogers
Start 2017 out by opening a few doors – opportunity may be behind them. Many of our New Year resolutions fall quickly by the wayside because we claim we do not have enough time, we’re too tired, or we argue that changing is just too difficult. Those rationalizations are holding us back from our greater potential, and these lies we tell ourselves keep us from advancing or growing. In our fast-paced world with ever-changing technology, we better pick up the pace before we get replaced. There are easy methods to improve your value in the workplace that take up very little time and effort on your part.
The first suggestion is to fill your first few minutes in the morning with gratitude. Unless you are grateful for what you have now, you will not fully appreciate what will come into your life. The man who does not appreciate his wife does not deserve another one. The woman who hates her crappy job will very likely find her next job just as crappy. The very act of thinking about your blessings will raise your mood considerably, put you in a positive frame of mind, make your day go a lot better – and it takes less than five minutes.
On the way to work listen to audio books rather than radio chatter or music. No, not novels, but non-fiction and educational material to help you in your career and life. There are entire courses available as audio books you can download and play from your smartphone or mp3 player, or buy on CD. Want to advance in your job – start using that commuting time to tackle a business course, learn a new language, improve your vocabulary, or learn to develop your skills. The greatest difficulty will be choosing from a growing library of choices. No time is wasted since you have to drive to work anyway. Win-win. Listening to audio books may even inspire you to take a college course at night or on the weekend. Everyone gets their degrees the same way – one course at a time. It may take longer to take only one course at night, but you arrive at the same destination as the person carrying a full load of courses. The most important part is that you are learning, growing, and investing in yourself.
It is funny how we claim to be wasting time on trying to lose weight, but never say we are wasting time eating. I don’t recall ever hearing someone say they are wasting time sleeping, but I hear it a lot when it comes to exercising. Start reframing your thoughts when it comes to how you are spending your time. If your goal is to increase your value as an employee, remind yourself of that goal daily. Determine if what you want to spend your time on takes you closer to your goal – or does it move you farther away? Reframing takes very little time and effort.
Finally, a cheap investment of time, money, and effort is a change in attitude. Carl Sandburg tells a delightful story of the Kansas sodbuster that beautifully illustrates the power of attitude and expectations:
Who was that early sodbuster in Kansas?
He leaned at the gatepost and studied the horizon and figured what corn might do next year and tried to calculate why God ever made the grasshopper and why two days of hot winds smother the life out of a stand of wheat and why there was such a spread between what he got for grain and the price quoted in Chicago and New York.
Drove up a newcomer in a covered wagon: “What kind of folks live around here?”
“Well, stranger, what kind of folks was there in the country you come from?”
“Well, they was mostly a lowdown, lying, thieving, gossiping, back-biting lot of people.”
“Well, I guess, stranger, that’s about the kind of folks you’ll find around here.”
And the dusty gray stranger had just about blended into the dusty gray cottonwoods in a clump on the horizon when another newcomer drove up: “What kind of folks live around here?”
“Well, stranger, what kind of folks was there in the country you come from?”
“Well, they was mostly a decent, hard-working, law-abiding, friendly lot of people.”
“Well, I guess, stranger, that’s about the kind of folks you’ll find around here.”
And the second wagon moved off and blended with the dusty gray cottonwoods on the horizon while the early sodbuster leaned at his gatepost and tried to figure out why two days of hot winds smother the life out of a nice stand of wheat.
(Carl Sandberg, Harvest Poems: 1910-1960; p. 97)
Expect the best and you will find it; expect the worst and you will find that too. Your attitude is completely in your power – so why not stay positive with high expectations? When you embrace an attitude of gratitude you open the door for better things to come into your life. Be thankful for what you have right now, the people around you, and job you now hold. Be happy. Expect more.
Will Rogers was right – you can be on the right track and still get run over. Improving does not always require a great deal of investment in time and money. Stay active in learning, stay positive in spirit, appreciate where you have been, and expect to move higher.
Wishing you and yours a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year!
by: Martha Heltsley, PhD
Photo by: Annie Spratt