Encouraging Greatness

Learn About Money - The Sooner The Better

I grew up in a family where we didn't talk about personal finance. I didn't know how much money my parents made or how much anything cost. I had part time jobs throughout high-school and into college and used it to buy things that didn't really matter, movies, CD's, gas for the car, etc. Part way through college I was estranged from my parents for a while and I was forced to figure things out on my own. I, like most Americans, began accumulating a mountain of debt. Starting with student loans, mortgage, new car payments and the dreaded credit card debt. I look back on it now and I really have no idea what we spent all of our money on, because there wasn't really a lot to show for it. I knew it was time for a change.

Starting in 2006, my wife and I got serious. I started tracking our spending every month and set a budget based on how much income we had. It took some time to get under control, but eventually we did. I then worked on getting rid of debt. Within a year and a half we had eliminated my student loan, one car loan and purchased a lot with which we planned to build a house someday. The amazing thing was, when looking back we didn't notice that we had greatly sacrificed in our lifestyle. 

Today I just kick myself thinking about all the time I wasted, not talking about, thinking about or planning our families finances better. We built a new house, so yeah, we still have debt, but we are finding ways to save money and still do the things we enjoy.

I would encourage you to take a look at a great sight I found after I had figured a lot of this out the hard way. J.D. Roth at Get Rich Slowly writes a fantastic blog about personal finance, covering topics from debt reduction, emergency savings, retirement savings, cost reduction and income improvement. His common sense approach and average Joe style makes the concepts easy to understand and easy to implement. Personal finance isn't really as hard of a subject as many feel it is. The thing that has really hit home to me is to start, no matter how small the start is. The longer you wait the less impact you can make. 

One of the most important things I hope to be able to teach my children is how to manage their personal finances as they get older. I plan to open up to my children exactly what our income and expenses are every month so they can see and understand what it takes. I plan to share all of the mistakes that I made and hope that they don't make the same ones. If they do make mistakes though, I hope that I can help them figure it out sooner than I did on my own.

I would encourage you to develop your own personal finance plan. Having a goal and working towards it, even if it means years of work, is well worth the effort. Having the peace of mind to be constantly aware of your personal financial situation and yet not worried about it all of the time is a place you will enjoy. It isn't as far away as you think either.

Try To Matter, Otherwise You Don't

Seth Godin had another of his great thought provoking posts, this time about doing things that show you matter. The thing I loved the most about many of his ideas are they aren't grandious things that make you famous or irreplaceable. They are the little things you can do. Being gracious, raising the bar, teaching and forgiving. Mattering isn't about being a superstar at something, it sounds to me like mattering is about doing the little things in life, helping out those around you and being hesitant to judge others or be condescending. 

This is so much what I've talked about before, doing the little things, one day at a time, better than you did in the past. Working to matter in the hundreds if not thousands of interactions with others we have every day. I encourage you to read through the list. Pay close attention to the first 5, because if you aren't doing those things you are just going through the motions and you don't matter. 

What Is Your Goal In Life?

I was asked the question recently “What is your goal in life?” It was from one of those books of questions to learn about another person.  There were 4 multiple choice answers and my wife of course knew the one that fit me, “To make the world a better place.” Of all the answers that was the obvious choice for me as well. Even if it was an open answer questions, that is probably what I would have put. For some reason that has stuck with me and I’ve been reflecting on it a lot lately. I tell myself that it is a great goal, who wants to make the world worse? But, in my life do I really make the world better?

I do know that I try, at work I try and help my co-workers. If I have information that will help them, even if it isn’t my job, I will share it. Not because I want to be a no-it-all, but because I truly like the feeling of helping someone and making their life easier or better. But then I beat myself up because I’m not perfect. I wish I was a better husband and be the romantic thoughtful person that is always there for my wife. Why do I get grumpy some times and bite her head off over nothing? I wish I was a better father and didn’t lose my patience and yell at my children when they frustrate me. How do I make the world a better place when I hurt the people I love the most?

I realize that I’m not perfect, and I’m only human, all of us are. All we can do is continue to work better at it each day. I’m sure I will still lose my patience in the future, get mad at the wrong things and beat myself up over something I should let go. My goal is for it to be less than it was before, to get better every day, and I think that I’m achieving that goal. When I think about the best way I can make the world a better place, it is to make myself be a better person, to everyone I interact with. What if you strived to be better every day as well? What kind of impact could we have in the world? What if everyone was a better person tomorrow then they are today? Imagine a world where 6 billion people are better than they were yesterday? Give that a year, or 10 years, and you can only imagine the possibilities.

So what is your goal in life?

Balancing Life Doesn’t Mean You Can’t Be Great

I’ve always wanted to be successful at work, but I also want to be a good husband and father. It always seemed like to be great at one you have to sacrifice the other. At least that is what things certainly look like. You see the executives in your company working long hours, trying to survive and get ahead. To accomplish that more often than not their family comes in second. Unfortunately I struggled with a similar situation the past few months, we were going through the process of building a new house. For anyone that hasn’t gone through it there are thousands of decisions to be made, every day we had to talk about the house. To make things worse I took on the insane task of trying to save ourselves some money by doing some of the work myself. I added it up and in a 3 month span, I worked the equivalent of 2 full time jobs, my regular job, and working on the house. Needless to say that is one of the reasons I didn’t write hear for a while. It also meant giving up time with my family. It was hard on us, especially my wife practically having to be a single mother for some time, but we knew it was short term and would get us the house of our dreams. Being moved in and settled now, it feels like it was worth it, to see life return to normal. I achieved something great but it did involve a sacrifice.

During all those hours, mostly alone, I was able to do a lot of thinking, about people that work 70, 80 or more hours every week. How fulfilling could that possibly be? If you find success in that, more power to you, but why can’t you be great at finding balance. Be an incredibly talented worker, that does a great job and helps your company succeed, but goes home at the end of the day to spend time with your family? Every day that goes by is another day that you can never get back. I look at being great at something could be anything, from being great at work, to being great with your family, to being great at finding a balance with both. Whatever you want to be great at is what is important, not what others say should be important to you or what is important to them. Understanding that about yourself is the hard part, once you figure it out I think greatness becomes easy. Here’s to you and I figuring that out.

Changing Opinions

I was talking to a colleague today who was concerned over the views held by someone higher up in the organizational chart about her. You see that manager has an opinion of the type of person she is and it is impacting her opportunities for a different position within the company. I have been in a similar position in the past, being stereotyped in some of my abilities. I always fought it, worked hard to change, who I was because I thought to succeed I had to fit a certain mold. That the only way to get ahead was to be the type of person everyone said I had to be. But the harder I tried the worse it got. I came to realize that who I am is not really going to change. There are things about who I am that I continue to work at to improve, but I'm never going to be great at all things. Rather than fighting to change myself, you would think I should change people's opinions. But the funny thing is that you usually can't change a persons opinion, any more than you can change who you are at the core. That first impression someone forms of you lasts, probably much longer than you would like. Rather than change the persons opinion, I say embrace it and determine how you are going to succeed at what you want. Never let anyone say you can't do something. If it is what you truly want, go after it. When someone says a flaw in your character, which we all have, is going to prevent you from doing well in a job or anything else in life, don't fight it by trying to remove that weakness. Instead focus on what your strengths are that will help you succeed despite your weaknesses. The great thing about an opinion is that everyone is entitled to one. The other great thing is that you never have to listen to them.

Not Enough Time To Be Great At All Things

Yes, it has been a while since I last posted. Life has been hectic for us the past month, but all in a good way. I started a new job about a month ago. This was a tremendously good move for me personally and I believe ultimately for my career, if nothing else I'm no longer bored at work. On top of that we have started building our new home which we are very excited about, but there is a lot of decisions and my lunch hour is generally spent on the phone or researching how things are progressing. On top of all that we still have our two girls, 4 and 1, that we have to chase around. So, I have to make choices and while I love writing and trying to make something of this Website, it just ends up falling to the bottom of the list. I'm getting settled in at work but with the house I'm not sure what the next couple of months will be like, but I promise not to wait another month before writing again.

What this has done for me is made me realize that the greatness that I talk about is limited. Life is full of choices because the one thing that is always the same each day is the number of minutes in it. How we choose to spend those minutes of the day is up to us, but I guarantee you that you can never be great at all things. Ask any parent and this becomes painfully obvious. Put your family first and the person next to you working 60 hours a week gets the promotion that you wanted. Many times the reverse can be true as well where a family does not get your attention as you climb the corporate ladder.

Do I have a top 100 blog? Nope, probably never will, but that isn't why I do it. The same as I probably will never have the big corner office running a big company. Not what I'm looking for in life. I have a good job though, that I enjoy and can support my family. I continue to look for new opportunities to move up but I won't sacrifice my life with my family.

Life is about choices and I'm happy with the ones I've made. I think that makes me better at my job, I'm more focused and know what I want, it is easier to find something when you know what you are looking for. Happiness I believe is the first step towards greatness. You can be great at whatever you do in life, you just have to decide what you want in life.

Hidden Talents And Hidden Passions

Chris Bailey wrote some thoughts about Hidden Talents that I encourage you to take a look at. As Chris describes them, hidden talents are unique skills or abilities that an employee brings to the job that aren't part of their job description. His comments on how that plays into our own job satisfaction or fulfillment really struck me.

While most workers are supplied with a job description, that’s often not enough. Many of us feel a strong pull toward fulfilling our own sense of “occupational identity” that is much more robust and unique to our own particular talents.

For me, a strong pull I feel is towards my hidden passion, which is what I speak to on this site. I'm curious if it truly is a hidden talent or just a passion, but most of the time I believe the two go hand in hand. The jobs I've held in the past 3 years have not needed work in organizational development, employee interaction and culture. Yet I find myself in many conversations where those exact topics come up and I start speaking to my knowledge and passion in those areas. I've been told it is a benefit to bring that additional insight into my job, that I look at and care about those topics are helpful since not everyone looks at things that way.

I encourage you to think about or discover your hidden talents and your hidden passions. Chris is planning a series on uncovering and utilizing your hidden talents that I'm looking forward to reading that may be helpful to you. I believe that whatever may be hidden in you needs to be uncovered and there is a place for it in your job. Finding a way to utilize your talents and passion is one step towards greatness.

Are You A Complainer? Here's What You Can Do

I know you have been in this situation, I have been so many times I've lost count. There are two sides to it, one is you are the one complaining and the other is you are the person being complained to. There can be good things that come out from these types of interactions. It is good to have a person or a select group of people to talk through when something frustrates you. Talking through it will help you get a more well rounded perspective on things or ensure that what you see is something worth making an issue out of. The problems start when the only person you ever talk to doesn't actually help you change anything.

We all get caught up in politics and stupid things that happen at work. Every time there is a problem you shouldn't run to your manager. However, there are legitimate issues that happen at work that are hard to discuss. Realistically, telling the truth is hard. Nothing ever changes though unless you take action. So, the next time you find yourself in a situation like this, here are 5 tips on taking a productive approach in dealing with the issue.

1. Talk with your manager - Explain to them you have some concerns and you aren't sure how to approach it. State that you aren't looking for them to solve the problem but you are looking for some input on how to deal with it. The advantage to this approach is it isn't dumping the problem on your manager but it raises awareness without you complaining to them. It also shows some initiative that you want to solve the problem but are humble enough to ask for help.
2. Talk with the person - Face it, the vast majority of our problems are with individuals. By sitting down with the person and saying that you are a little concerned with their decision, work, etc. you can open up a dialog to solve the problem. I like to open with a statement such as, "Can I talk with you about Project X? I'm a little concerned about it because it isn't on schedule and I'm wondering what we can do to get it back on track." It is a very open way of dealing with the issue and shows that you aren't accusing the person of doing anything wrong.
3. Offer to help - Sometimes things aren't getting done like you would like simply because of other factors. Simply ask, "Is there anything I can help with or you need me to do differently to help you out?" Take all of your time spent complaining and invest it in helping get the project done. Ignore the fact that it isn't part of your job. It impacts you as much as the next person if your company is struggling.
4. Stop the complaining in others - Complainers usually feed off of each other. The next time you are in a situation where you hear complaints, ask, "So what should we do to fix it?" Listening to complainers is like buying an alcoholic a drink, probably not the best move you could make.
5. Always have a solution - If you need to complain or see a problem, go ahead and talk about it, as long as you have a valid solution. Every company has problems. All individuals have conflicts. Do something about them. If you come with a solution, even if it isn't the solution chosen you won't be labeled a complainer. You will be viewed as someone that recognizes problems and works to solve them.

Work should be fun. Challenges should be viewed as opportunities. The successful companies are those that take action on the problems and turn them around. It is hard to be successful when everyone is huddled around the water cooler complaining about how unsuccessful you are. What are you going to do to help your company be successful?

Taking Risks

When you think about taking risks you probably tell yourself that you are okay taking risks, accept some calculated risks or are the type that hates risk and will do whatever you can to minimize it. We are all wired differently. I for one am a person that does not like taking risks. I talk about starting my own business but I want something that will guarantee my income so I can support my family, there is too much risk.

On the business side, companies are made up of individuals, therefore the risk tolerance in a company is usually a factor of the risk tolerance of the individuals leading the company. I've seen companies that talk about taking risks and don't follow through. One of the key areas of risk taking in a business is defining and more importantly choosing a strategy. It is a risk to be selective. However, isn't it more of a risk not to define your company?

You are no different than any company. You have to make choices and select how you stand out. There are never going to be perfect jobs, perfect lives or perfect people. Making choices is about taking risks. Having a strategy is about taking risks. Choosing to be the best person you can be is not a risk, it is your best chance of standing out, being significant and succeeding. Will some people not agree with you? Probably. Will some jobs not be the right place for you? Maybe. But the alternative should be much more frightening to you.

Success or Significance?

I heard a word last night that really describes what drives me, significance. I've often felt that I was striving for success, wanting to be great at my job. I thought that meant I had to move up the "corporate ladder" and doing each job with ease. As I did this I didn't feel valuable, didn't like what I was doing that much and generally felt lost at work. As I continue to seek the path I most belong in my life, hearing this word, significance, brought meaning to my search. As I look back on my career I find the times that I felt most fulfilled in my work was when I felt significant. In an amazing, smack you upside the head, coincidence, those were also the times I was probably viewed as most successful by my peers and managers. I was chasing after success when I was great at something already. I was great because I was part of a great team and could apply my strengths and my skills to help my team be extraordinary. Really, when you look at most people at work, isn't that all they are searching for? Is that what makes you feel important and fulfilled at work?

I want to take this a step further and look at companies. Companies also strive for success, and more than ever they are trying to carve out their place in the marketplace, something that makes them significant. When you look at great companies the significance comes long before the success. It starts with a vision. Visions are what give companies a basis and meaning, and makes them significant. One of my favorite companies to look at is Disney. The values that the company was founded under by Walt Disney live on to this day. The company has significance in the lives of so many. As the father of two girls, I can tell you that Disney is significant, and the avid adoration by so many children and adults leads to its success.

So as an individual, do you feel significant? What is missing from your job to make it significant and make you feel significant? As a member of your company, are you significant to your customers? Will they notice if you go away? What makes you different than your competition? If you are a manager, what are you doing to help build significance in your employees and your company? I'm willing to bet that if you start at building significance, as an individual or a company, you will find success.