Jodi in Hiding
Originally uploaded by drewmaniac

I’ve said it before. Sometimes we just need a nudge.

There was a point in my life when I had nearly hit rock bottom, when it comes to the area of gainful employment. I had invested far too many years working in a middle management job at Wal-Mart. Yes, that Wal-Mart. There was not much of a future there and I knew it. I had taken the job in the first place because a few years before I had become desperate for any job.

Burned out and knowing I needed to do something different, even anything different, I had looked for other jobs. But I was reluctant to take the necessary steps to go anywhere different. Partly because I didn’t know what I wanted to do and partly because I was afraid.

One day as I was working as a cashier (there’s a story behind the middle management to cashier bit, but I’ll save that for another day), an old friend and former co-worker, Elena came through my check out line. She didn’t greet me. She didn’t ask me how I was doing. She didn’t even make small talk. What she did was nudge me. She immediately asked with a hint of disgust, “Why are you doing this?! You are better than this! You are smarter than this!”

The following week I had an interview at her employer, got the job, and had turned in my two weeks at Wal-Mart, kissing retail goodbye.

Four months after that I found myself in Cincinnati visiting with Procter & Gamble (a customer of ours). I distinctly remember looking out one of the windows of the twin towers of their world headquarters and watching the city pass by that morning. As we waited for the meeting to begin I wasn’t thinking about what we were going to say or how well the meeting was going to go. I was thinking about Elena and the nudge she had given me. It had turned my life around and given me some opportunities to dig out of the mess of the previous years.

Sometimes it’s a simple encouraging word. Sometimes a pat on the back, a simple question, or as in my case a kick to the hinder part that nudges someone and gets them moving.

Is there someone you know who needs a nudge? Why not figure out a way to get them moving? It might just turn their life around. They’ll be thanking you for it years later.

Boy
Originally uploaded by [Zakkaliciousness]

You know who they are. You might even be who I’m talking about, but let’s pretend you’re not.

They are those people you can look around the workplace and see are simply going through the motions. They put forth just enough effort to get by, but not too much because then they may be asked to do a little extra work. They’re the ones who show up on time, leave on time, and add very little of value to the workplace. They’re comfortable with being average.

It is as if they are waiting to die.

What’s sad is when you see someone who lives their life like this. They go through the motions. They don’t value their relationships. They have nothing for which they stand for. They are pushed in one direction and then another, giving in to whatever the crowd dictates. They don’t have an opinion. They rarely try new things, go new places, or come up with original ideas. They are alive, but barely.

It is as if they are waiting to die.

You know who they are. You might even be who I’m talking about, but you’re not. Right?

Thanks to Thom Singer who planted the seed for this post yesterday in conversation on Twitter.

Black & White Ice
Originally uploaded by drewmaniac

It was 2003, winter, and cold. I wasn’t doing very well financially. My car wasn’t working and I had no money to repair it. I was walking to work in the snow. On longer jaunts, I’d borrow my roommate’s car. I had no phone because I had no way to pay for one, so I’d purchase a phone card and use pay phones.

Family problems over the years, and then my father’s roller coaster health issues had emotionally drained me. Two years before, in a hurry to escape some of the pressures I had moved to a town I had never really intended to end up in. I moved in such a hurry that I had not seriously considered the financial impact it would have, what job I would have, or even where I would live.

It was one of the longest winters of my life.

Adam Duritz of the Counting Crows, in an interview on VH1′s Storytellers recounts the story behind their hit song, Long December.

At various periods in our lives we must all face a long winter, a long December.

Whatever your winter is, the only option must be to press on. Understand that your winter will one day give way to spring. Work hard to come up with sound solutions to overcome your winter. No matter how difficult things may become, you must press on.

If this past year was a winter you would like to forget, “… there’s reason to believe maybe this year will be better than the last.”

Keeley 2
Originally uploaded by { Fiat Lux }

1. Be useful.
2. Be helpful.
3. Be masterful.
4. Be beautiful.
5. Be characterful.
6. Be healthful.
7. Be meaningful.
8. Be respectful.
9. Be thoughtful.
10. Be truthful.
11. Be colorful.
12. Be grateful.
13. Be hopeful.

If you added just a few of these things to your day, you’d be delightful to be around and your influence would be powerful. Why not start now?

Have more to add? Feel free.

Allison
Originally uploaded by drewmaniac

There’s a certain comfort that comes from being average.

• It’s comfortable to “just get by.” Doing more would require more effort.
• It’s comfortable to always do what you’ve always done. Why change the way you do business when you’ve always done it that way?
• It’s comfortable to just believe what the preacher says. It takes a little more work (thought, study, etc.) to find out if the preacher is right.
• It’s comfortable to keep a tradition. To change or challenge a tradition would most likely rock the boat. Who wants that?
• It’s comfortable to stay in that job you despise because it pays the bills. Changing your job situation for the better would mean more work initially. An updated resume. Job searching. Phone calls. Looking your best. Interviews.
• It’s comfortable to go through the motions of your life. Actually challenging yourself to accomplish more, learn more, and grow more in life would be… well… challenging.
• It’s comfortable to stand in the middle. Taking a stand requires thought, having an opinion, and usually believing in something.

There’s nothing wrong with being comfortable in life. Unless you make it a way of life. That’s when you will find yourself being average, your growth will be stunted, and you won’t challenge much of anything.

“Dreams can often become challenging, but challenges are what we live for.” ~ Travis White

Railroad |x| Crossing (I)
Originally uploaded by michaelcooper

The problem with inaction due to fear is later you will be reactive because of fear.

Allowing fear to be an excuse for your inaction leads you to wait until the last minute. When the last minute arrives and a decision is necessary, fear guides you to make a rash and sometimes emotional decision. It was probably a decision you weren’t wanting to make.

You could have made some changes in the past, yet comfort prevailed. You could have set some goals in the past, yet fear prevailed. Now you’re backed into a corner you knew was coming. In the heat of the moment you are now going to react, and most likely you will do what you have been doing all along. You’ll make a decision based on fear.

It doesn’t have to be this way. When you can see you need to change, make a change. When you know the evils are no longer worth suffering through, tolerate them no longer.

It’s easier said than done, I know.

Someone needs to say it though, or due to fear you may never change.