I was having lunch the other day with an advisor. She’s one of those driven, “I’m going to make this work and I’m going to be the best….” type of people. She has what other people want. When I say that I mean the drive. The vision. The knowledge. The motivation.
She wondered why it wasn’t working. Why it wasn’t going the way she wanted it to. She wasn’t making the money she wanted, didn’t have the life she wanted. Wasn’t in the situation to be successful the way she wanted. It wasn’t moving forward.
She has it all. But doesn’t have anything at the same time.
She has one foot out the door. She isn’t fully invested in what she’s doing. What I mean by that is she’s looking at other companies to work for. Her husband has been working out of state for some time. She has a young daughter. She has a dog too, (and yes, this counts). She has a lot of things coming at her.
I see this so, so often. People aren’t happy with where they are. They are looking at other ways, other places, other things that will make them happy. It’s always a job, their life, someone at work, there’s always something. That’s the exact same conversation I had with her.
Here’s what I asked her and everyone else in her position… Have you done everything you can where you are? Have YOU put your all into it? You know why people get frustrated? They choose to. They choose to listen to others, to have a bad attitude, to not be focused, to let others pull them in different directions.
As the conversation went on, and I dug in a bit, you could see the light bulb go on. You could see it, catching herself making the excuses. Saying it was where she worked, who she worked with, her husband, having limited time. Each time she said it, she caught herself, knowing it was just an excuse.
As we walked out of there she looked at me and said, you know what I took away from this? I need to make a decision. I need to make that decision and put my all into it. I need to figure this out before another day, week, month or year has gone past and I’m not working towards it and getting to where I want to be.
The next thing she asked me is, “How can I help you?”
You don’t have to do anything. You just did. Sometimes we just do the right things for people and don’t expect anything in return.
Be that person for someone. That’s all the payback you will need.