Kimanzi Constable's Blog, page 61

I Can’t Chase My Dreams Because My Cats Stuck In A Tree

Two years ago I was fed up with my business, I just wanted out. The customers were driving me nuts, the company was doing it’s best to give me a heart attack.

I was all fired up to start my career as an author and immediately started writing. It felt good to tell people I was writing a book, I felt like a champion just for having the idea.

You know how that goes, right? It was a few weeks later when I picked up another market for my business, we would now do work in Illinois.

I was now a multi-state business owner, so who needed the writing thing? Authors don’t make any real money anyways, right?

What I was really telling myself was I didn’t want to put in the hard work it would take to be successful.

It took almost a year to finally get fed up enough to take some real action. That multi-state business owner thing turned out to be a real bummer, always some kind of an issue. More than that, I realized that my true calling was to make an impact in this crazy world, to actually contribute something positive.

Where are you at in your life right now?

Our work and our life was never meant to be a full of hardship and struggle, we are meant for so much more than we let ourselves believe.

When you think about your work, your business or your dreams, do you come up with reasons why you can’t have more?

Do you come up with every reason why something won’t work before you’ve given it a chance to work?

It’s time to get real honest with yourself, there’s always going to be a million reasons to not pursue a life of true fulfillment, there’s never going to be enough time to work on making your passion a reality.

Here’s the thing though: you’re running out of time that you will never get back. Before you know it you’ll be at the end of your life looking at a life full of regret and unfulfilled dreams.

I beg you to take some kind of action

It took a year for me to experience something so extreme I had no choice but to pursue more. I finally got honest and saw what those “valid points” I told myself really were: excuses to not make the difficult decisions.

I’m not with you so I don’t know what you all have to go through in your life, but whatever it is there’s always a way.

What does that mean?

It might mean getting out things that you enjoy, like TV. Did you know the average American watches 4 hours of TV a day which equals up to 13 years of their life, insane?

What could you do with the extra time you watch TV? How much sooner would you get closer to your dreams with all that extra time? As Dave Ramsey says, I have been there, done that and have the tee-shirt to prove it.

I used to be a TV addict but realized that my dreams were far more important, do you realize that?

Truly living your life

The travel has been a little nuts this year, always being gone every week, next year I’ll be more strategic about it.

Right before I spoke

However, I’m living out my dreams and one of the perks is hanging out with friends met online. I spoke in L.A. this past weekend and had the honor of having Dan Blackhear me speak.

Dan and I hanging out

We got to hang out all day after I was done and not only was it fun, I learned so much from him, this is my dream realized! Why didn’t I take action sooner? Oh well!

Whatever your dreams are, whatever passion and mission you have in life, I pray this post will help you take the first steps if you have been delaying.

If you have taken action but are feeling a little down, then I hope this post gives you hope. Whatever obstacle, you can overcome it and succeed despite of it.

The only way to truly live the life of your dreams is to stop making excuses and start taking action.

How are you taking action on your dreams?

P.S. I’m honored to have my very first magazine article go live. In the same issue is article’s written by Michael Hyatt and Dave Ramsey. I made the cover though Check out the article here

Enjoying The Tastes of The Good Life

This is a guest post by Bill White who is the founder of Succinct Research, a company dedicated to conducting quality research products for business clients and the non-academic public. His most recent book, Resume Writing for Scientists, explains the techniques recruiters use to create killer resumes that help place their clients. It’s an excellent resource for anyone that needs a job. Be sure to follow Bill on Twitter. To guest post on this blog email a post to kimanzi@talesofwork.com and I’ll review it.

I helped a friend of mine buy a 2002 BMW M5 yesterday. He lives in Idaho and came across someone selling the car where I live in Arizona. I was asked to check out the car and help him complete the transaction if the car checked out. So, I met up with the owner, looked the car over, and test drove it. The car is in pristine condition. It’s only had two owners, has barely over 100,000 miles (which is excellent for a 10-year-old car), and was kept in top condition. The price was right and I helped my friend complete the transaction.

For those of you that don’t know, an M5 is an AWESOME vehicle. This model was only available for 5 years and a little more than 20,000 were ever made. With a dual intake and exhaust, V8 engine, and 6-speed manual transmission, this car can easily crack 120 mph!  The car handles and accelerates like a race car. It was all I could do to keep from racing through the city streets as I drove it to my house. Test driving it was amazing!

Driving that incredible car was just a taste of the life that many Americans live every day. Many of us call it “the good life.” That test drive taught me that we all get glimpses of the good life, everyday.

I felt like a superstar when I drove the M5. It made me realize why people buy sports cars, but this test drive also made me realize that I experience a little of the good life everyday. Some of these experiences revolve around possessions, but many are run-of-the-mill experiences in my life.

Here’s what I mean:

Family and friends are worth more than gold, I can’t place a monetary value on the support and camaraderie I get from my friends and family. Just like Kimanzi wrote a few weeks ago, a good support network is crucial. Those friends are also a taste of the good life that we frequently take for granted.

It’s not the quantity of friends you keep, but the quality. Be thankful for those few special people who make our lives worth living.

We all have luxuries, I don’t know many people who drive luxury cars like the M5, but I am well aware of the small luxuries I’m surrounded by every day.  Sometimes I take them for granted until I realize that I am blessed.

I grew up in a poor family. We didn’t have much, but we still had tasty, home-cooked meals almost every night. My mother is an excellent cook and our dinners were better than most restaurants in our town. Although we didn’t have much money for food, my mom made every meal a banquet. This was just one luxury growing up that I’m grateful for.

We’ve all traveled a long, winding road, I’ve been friends with the M5’s new owner since we were in grade school. We weren’t the poorest kids in school, but we were far from the richest. In order to get to where we’re at now, we’ve both come a long way. He was only able to buy that car through a lot of toil, blood, sweat, and tears. Considering where he came from, he deserves a lot more than a sports car.

All of us have a history. We’ve all worked hard and deserve everything we have, and more. Take the time to reflect on your personal journey.

Don’t get jealous, get inspired, The man who sold the M5 was much more wealthy than myself or my friend. He was selling the car because he had a newer car and didn’t have room for the M5. While we settled the deal, the car seller’s wife shopped in the Dooney & Bourke, Prada, and Louis Vuitton stores at the mall where we met. Dropping a few thousand dollars in those stores was just something to pass the time for them.

It wasn’t their wealth that impressed me. I was impressed by their attitudes towards life. They had raised their kids and enjoyed watching me while I played with my 2-year-old son while we all waited for the money to transfer. They advised me on which mini-van I should buy. Understanding my newfound interest in luxury cars, they told me that every family goes through their mini-van stage before getting to the luxury cars.

To them, success was an inevitable outcome of hard work. It was clear throughout the conversation that neither of them was born rich. But they had become wealthy from their hard work and successful businesses. I was even more inspired to make my own efforts successful from this short meeting.

Visualize success and you will reach it, I never dreamed in my wildest dreams that I’d be sitting in a limited-edition luxury sedan, let alone drive one. But, somehow, that’s exactly where I found myself this weekend. For months, I’ve been using creative visualization techniques to put myself in the right place where success can find me (if you want to know more check out this Slideshare presentation I created on creative visualization for job seekers). Oftentimes, this process has worked in weird ways.

Somehow, I’ve been in contact with more inspiring and motivating people in the last few months than I have been in my entire life.

What I’ve learned is there’s an abundance of successful people out there that are more than willing to share their knowledge in order to help you. The surest path to success is through association with other successful people. All you have to do is start seeking them out. This all starts with a vision of the future. You have to envision exactly where you want to be, in vivid detail, and you will subconsciously start along that path. It’s crazy and it doesn’t happen without work (you still have to act on that vision for it to happen). Try it and you’ll be amazed at where you end up.

It’s crazy where my path has taken me in 2012. I went from working at a job I hated, to scrambling to find any job, to starting my own business, to driving luxury cars and chatting with millionaires. I spent that afternoon with a man who had been where I’m going. He gave me suggestions and advice on my own aspirations. I have his information and can contact him in the future if I want. Another great outcome is: I get to deliver the M5 to my friend next week! It’ll be a 1,000-mile drive in a car I never dreamed I’d get to drive. Pay attention to my Twitter feed and see how my trip from Arizona to Idaho went. What a life we all live. I love these tastes of the good life.

Each of us has tastes of the good life everyday. Join in the discussion and tell us about some of your blessings:

The Transition Phase of Your Dreams

I’m Kimanzi Constable. I help people stop settling, stop making excuses, so that they can live the life of their dreams.

I had the honor of attending Brendon Burchard’s Expert Academy last week, and it was life changing. One of the things we worked on was our core message, the framework for everything I want to do with my dreams and life. The statement above is my dream, my core message.

After attending the event, I immediately got home and went to work. I revamped some of the pages of this website, and officially released my first product. I sat down and did something that I have never done before: formulated a strategy for how I’m going to get from where I am now to fully living out my dreams in ways I never dreamed of (if you can’t tell, I’m super inspired)!

So I know that many who read this blog are dream chasers on various stages of the journey. Do you have a plan for this journey?

The one characteristic of every successful business is that the strategize, they don’t just wing it. Up to this point I have been following a plan (my plan) but there hasn’t been much strategy behind it. Over the next few months you’re going to see some changes and see many new products and services that I’m creating to help you realize your dream.

Everything I create will stem from my core message. I really want to wake people up to how short life is and that we’ll never get any wasted time back, so why waste it? At the end of your life will you be able to look back and know that you at least went after all those things you dreamed of. I didn’t say accomplish, I said took the action of chasing those dreams? When you take action, you will accomplish those things.

I was shocked to hear this statistic at the conference though I shouldn’t be, the average American watches 4 hours of TV a day, that totals up to 13 years of their life!! If a person makes $250 a day, that time watching TV would have cost them 1.2 million dollars. Let that sink in.

We spend so much of our lives on things that aren’t going to better our lives in any way, taking away time from the things that really matter and will better our lives, WHY???

As I move forward, closer to my dreams, I plan on pushing even harder. I plan on helping as many people as possible find the path to their dreams and start running down that path.

If you have lost hope, then this is your wake up call, it’s all entirely possible. If you just need someone to talk to, get a little perspective, email me at kimanzi@talesofwork.com and I’ll do everything in my power to help you.

So where are you at in your journey? What would take you to the next level? Do you have a strategy to attain your dreams?

 

 

 

Can You Really Live The Life of Your Dreams?

If you would have asked me that question two years ago, I would have said NO WAY!

I had dreamed of so many things and I absolutely hated the work I was doing. I don’t have a college degree or any special skills, so what could I really do?

Even more than that I made every excuse in the book to not take actions on my dreams:

I have a family to support
I don’t have time to work on my dreams
I don’t have any extra money to fund my dreams
Nobody cares about my dreams
It’s just not realistic to chase or live your dreams

One hour before I spoke in Australia

These are valid points to think about but none of them can keep you from the life you deserve. It took a lot for me to finally take action on my dream of writing and speaking, it even took some deaths in my family.

When I did take action, I failed miserably, selling only 11 copies of my book in the first two months. At that point I was done and ready to die at that job that I hated, the failure was too hard to deal with.

It was an awesome group of friends that lifted me up and gave me the kick in the pants I needed to try again and I’m so grateful for what they did for me.

Now here I am, two years later living every dream I ever had. In one month I will be speaking at a conference in Manilla in the Philippines, can you believe that? (neither can I

I have sold over 60,000 copies of my two ebooks that had flopped at first and I signed a publishing contract earlier this year. Like I said, if you would have told me this two years ago, I would have laughed in your face.

Can you live the life of your dreams? Are you living the life of your dreams? Are you on the path to your dreams?

This post isn’t meant to be Kimanzi bragging about what he’s done, it’s meant to encourage you and show you that you can live the life of your dreams.

I don’t know where you’re at in the process, maybe just the beginning. The key to being successful is to continue to take action.

I’m not going to sit here and tell you this has been an easy journey for me or that it will be for you, it’s going to be the hardest thing you’ve done in your life.

You will fail, you will have roadblocks that try to derail you, you will think everything is going good and be surprised by how quickly things change.

Despite all of this I’m here to vouch for the fact that everything you’ve dreamed of is totally possible no matter what. Look around you, there is more opportunity than ever, our technology is insane. Our access to the rest of the world is greater than anytime in human history.

If you have been buying into the same excuses I made, then I hope you’ll see what’s really possible, I hope you’ll take action today and live, not just exist.

Is it really possible to live the life of your dreams? Yes, I’m living proof………

Are you claiming the life you truly deserve? How have you taken action on your dreams?

P.S. Make sure you get your FREE copy of my friend Drew Tewell’s book, only Free this weekend. Get details about your FREE copy here.

A Secret to Overcoming Obstacles

I am privileged and honored to have my friend Dan Black guest post today on my blog. Dan blogs about leadership at danblackonleadership. You can also follow Dan on Twitter  and Facebook.

If you want to reach your potential and achieve your dreams then you will face what seems like insurmountable obstacles. To overcome the obstacles that stand between where you are now to fulfilling your dreams, you need to remember one secret; never quit. Always keep forward momentum toward your dreams, no matter how challenging or difficult the challenges you will face.

It’s those people who persevere, and keep moving forward, who eventually achieve their dreams. I have found that it’s the great separator between those who do and those who do not achieve great things. 

A person who overcame obstacles to achieve their dreams is Oscar Pistorius (Known as Blade Runner), who wanted to compete in the Olympic Games. If you watched the 2012 Summer Olympics you might have seen or heard about him. Oscar has been a double leg amputee since he was 11 years old and since he has no legs he uses Flex-Foot Cheetahs to run. 

However in 2007 the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) put a ban from anyone using “devices with springs.” This obstacle could have stopped him from pushing toward his dream, but it did not. It took several months of tests and research to prove he did not have an advantage over other runners. After proving this the IAAF lifted the ban.

Oscar tried to qualify for the 2008 Olympic Games but failed to make the team. So he trained for another 4 years to have a chance to run in the 2012 Games. On August 4th his dream of running in the Olympic Games came true when he competed in the 400 meter preliminary race. Though he did not qualify for the final’s he did run in the Olympic Games.

This story shows the power in never giving up on your dreams no matter the challenges that might come. Make a choice today to never allow the obstacles of life to stop you from moving toward your dreams. To have and maintain a never quite mindset:

Listen to inspiring audio and music.
Associate with those who have already overcome obstacles and have achieved success.
Read books that inspire and motivate you.
Have a balance between your personal and professional life.
Attend conferences and events that would encourage you.

How do you handle obstacles? How do you maintain a never quite mindset?

The People I Work With Are Driving Me Nuts!

I’ve had a few jobs in my working career and I’ve had several co-workers that have driven to the edge.

For a year or so I worked for Quad-Graphics, who I believe is now the world’s largest printer of magazines. The shift was 12 hours long which could be rough and it meant you had to deal with a lot of personalities during those 12 hours.

There were a few times when tempers flared and a few times I was tempted to take the argument to the next level (I was a young hot head). I remember one time when I was placed in charge of one of the machines for a shift, which was a huge honor to an 18-year-old, many of my older co-workers who had been there longer weren’t happy at all.

They did everything they could that shift to create problems on the machine and make me quit, they got close. I made it through that day and learned valuable lessons that I still use today.

Moving on from that job and working at many other jobs and even owning a business has made me realize there’s never going to be a shortage of co-workers that will drive you nuts. You know exactly what I’m talking about, right?

So how do you deal with it?

Take a deep breath or walk away. There are some situations where you feel your blood pressure boiling and you have to close your eyes and breath in and out deeply, this will calm you down some. There are times when your anger will go beyond the breathing, those times it’s best to just walk away and take a short break. You don’t want to stand there and get angry to the point when you end up getting physical, it’s just not worth it.
Pray, Pray and oh yeah, pray. Prayer has been the biggest blessing for me. Nothing elaborate, just simply “Lord help me”. This will calm you down and help you focus on what’s more important. You wouldn’t want to ruin your testimony at work with a dumb decision that a small prayer could help you avoid.
Avoid negative people. If you work in an office or another small environment, you might not be able to completely avoid certain people but you can stay clear as much as possible. If you don’t have to talk to them or interact with them, then take advantage and keep it to a minimum. A negative person or attitude is very contagious and could easily rub off on you, so keep your self surrounded with positivity when possible.
Talk to them about the situation. If there’s a continual problem with someone specifically, then pull that person to the side and see if you can reason with them. You’d be surprised by how many situations can be resolved by simply talking it out. You may not think it will work or they will talk to you but try anyways.
If all else fails, talk to someone in authority. Some people or situations go beyond anything that you can work out, if it’s a real problem, then you have to talk to your boss. You shouldn’t have to go to work and dread it because certain people make you miserable, you have a right to be happy at work. Do what you can to work it out on your own, if that fails tell that person that you have to talk to someone above them.

However you approach the situation remember to be kind and calm, things will only get worse if you lose your temper. Your goal is to resolve the strife in a way that makes a better environment for everyone.

Just realize that no matter what there will always be people you just don’t see eye to eye with, we’re all made differently but that’s what makes us special. You can get through it, I did!

How do you deal with stressful co-workers?

Sometimes You Just Have To Say NO!

When I got my first real job working for Burger King I was the happiest sixteen year old you have met. I was so proud to tell people I was punching the clock and getting a paycheck.

Naturally I wanted to be the best employee which meant never saying No. If they asked me to work over-time I would beg my parents to let me work. If it meant cleaning up some mess that no one else wanted to clean up, I did it.

I ran into a little crisis when my manager scheduled me to work on a Sunday even though I stated in my application that I couldn’t work on Sundays. I begged my parents but they put their foot down, there was no way they were letting me miss church for work.

When I started my first business, I wanted to go over and beyond for my customers. This meant that sometimes I got calls late night or super early morning to make special delivers.

I charged them for these mini emergencies but because I wanted to get more business, I charged a ridiculously low amount. I did this for a long time before a friend of mine sat me down and woke me up to the fact I was actually losing money.

The common theme in these stories is the fact that I couldn’t say NO.

Fast forward to the present and I’m living out my dreams as a public speaker, I get requests to speak at all kinds of event. At first I wanted to speak at every conference that would have me, but I have a family and get be gone everyday

I had to learn pretty quickly how to be intentional about which ones I took, I have now determined that I’m set for this year and will not be taking on anymore events. This is a HUGE breakthrough for me, my personality wants it all!

So now I have to ask you, do you have trouble saying No?

There is simply not enough time in the day for you to do all the things you want to do, much less a bunch of other things people will ask you to do. If you have been in a battle with your schedule and have been wondering where to cut, maybe it’s the things you haven’t said No to.

It’s time to re-evaluate your schedule and see if you have been saying yes to things that you really don’t need to right now. It’s human nature to want to help and to want to do as much as possible but taking on too much could be keeping you from important things.

Saying No will help you with your dreams

Doing everything could be taking away time from working on your dreams. If you are still in a day job then you have to work on your dreams in any spare time you have. You won’t have any spare time to make your dreams a reality, keeping you from the life you truly deserve.

It doesn’t have to be your dreams; it could be that you have to say No at work. I always said yes to my boss to any overtime that was offered, it meant I made money but I missed out on being young.

I think working at that age is important and good discipline but playing with your friends, bonding and having those experiences are also important.

At your job you’ll get these requests and you have to decide what you can honestly do and fit into your schedule, be intentional with what you say yes and No too. You can’t do it all nor should you try, just be smart about it.

Saying No is hard and sometimes it hurts a little to say No to things that are worthy of your time but you have to determine what you need to say yes to at that moment. That’s how you can be intentional with your time.

Put this into practice this weekend, look at your schedule and be honest about what you can do and can’t do. I truly believe you’ll get a lot more accomplished.

Do you have a hard time saying No? What could saying No help you accomplish?

One Way to Stand Out and Get That Job

This is a guest post by Brian Ciampa who is a data warehouse developer in the healthcare industry.  You can follow his blog entitled Valuable Data which is geared toward helping those who want to enter that industry gain the skills to do so. Be sure to follow him on twitter.

When my wife (then my fiancée) and I were entrenched in planning our wedding several years ago we visited several different vendors for everything from the cake to the tuxedos to the location…and more. Other than the fact that they were all frequented by wedding planners, these vendors had little in common.

For example, a cake decorator is in a very different industry than a store that rents tuxedos.  However, as time has passed I have noticed a common theme that ran through all of them as we conducted that search.  As we approached each one, we asked for, and were provided, samples of their work.  The photographer had some of his best photographs on display.  The cake decorator had pictures and samples of their best cakes.  There seemed to be a common belief among most vendors in this arena:

In order to impress clients, a portfolio of some sort is needed.

When I think about the traditional methods of job seeking in technical industries (I work in the IT industry), I have to stop and reflect.  My experience with job seeking in this arena has usually consisted of looking for an open position, submitting a resume, attending the interview, answering the interview questions, and hoping that something in that entire process impressed them enough to make me a good offer.

However, somebody in an artistic area, such as a photographer, is expected to show concrete examples of what he can do before jobs (freelance or otherwise) are offered.  In my opinion, the difference is this: I am asking for a job…the artist is putting his value on display.　

One of the challenges for those of us in technical arenas is that aside from some visual areas like web design, technical professionals typically build or support infrastructure in the back-end.  So, to make a comparison to home building, the technical professionals would be synonymous with those installing the plumbing as opposed to those laying the carpet.  The nature of that work is not very visual.

However, what if you could market that skill in a visual way, which would allow you to put your value on display?  A potential employer could actually see (not just discuss) what you have to offer.  The goal of every job seeker is to stand out in the crowd.  When I approach an organization and try to sell my services, something about me needs to impress them enough so that they will give me a chance.  Providing a web-based portfolio may be just the item needed to differentiate me from the rest of the crowd.

I work in an area called data warehousing, meaning that I work with large databases that function behind websites and other applications.  In other words, my work is often felt but not seen by a customer.  However, I recently challenged myself to better market myself in a visual way and was impressed with what I was able to accomplish using the technology of today.  My portfolio is here.  This process has stretched my imagination so that I now see that those of us in technical arenas can borrow some of the marketing concepts from our artistic peers and market ourselves in a visual way.  There is no cut-and-dry template for a portfolio.  It basically needs to quickly accomplish three things…

Visually display my skill set
Communicate the passion that I have in a given area
Show the potential employer or customer how this skill can profit him

One of the best parts is that this does not have to be an expensive process.  I incurred no monetary expenses when building mine.　 It only “cost” me some time and creativity…and I learned a lot along the way.

How can you use your creativity to build a portfolio designed to market a skill set that is not very visual?

 

 

Sometimes Your Dreams Can Be a Headache

This past weekend I had an amazing time as I chased my dreams by speaking in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The speech itself went awesome, the room was packed and people were literally sitting on the ground.

Giving the audience candy

The city of Albuquerque was beautiful and very interesting; the back drop of the mountains was amazing. The food was delicious, a great mix of American and Mexican.

I totally amazed that people are willing to have me come speak in their city, at their conference. It’s a dream come true and it just feels right.

View from my hotel

Everything was all good until the flight home. We got on the plane as normal, got on the runway and were fourth in line to take off. Our turn came and we didn’t move, it was about twenty minutes before the captain came on and said there was a problem.

We waited and waited, the whole time the plane was getting hotter with no air flowing. We were told that something was wrong with the engine and we had to go back to the terminal to get it looked at; we were told it would be about a half hour.

I had a connecting flight in Minneapolis so as each minute went on I was getting more nervous of missing that flight. In the end the flight was cancelled and we would have to stay an extra night. They ended up paying for a night at a Sheraton and gave us a whole $12 in food vouchers (yeah).

Where they put us up

I was upset because I had to get home to see my family and catch up on a lot of work. This is my dream but indirectly it was causing me some stress, what’s going on???

The Bottle is Half Full

I know the power of positive thinking and I know all about prayer yet in times like these that knowledge goes out the window. I was sitting in my room for a while, upset and ready to call CNN about Delta airlines. This was the third time in the last month that I was deplaned with Delta

After sobbing for a little while, logic and reason set in, that little voice started telling me to grow up. I realized I could sit there and look at it as a negative thing or make the best out of it.

Staying the extra day I was able to go to an after party for the conference and individually talk to people who had enjoyed my presentation. I made great connections and helped some people figure out some things about their dreams.

It took a while but I finally saw things in the right perspective.

As you chase your dreams or even when you are finally living them, there will still be bumps on the road. Even if you’re at a job or business that you want to get away from, it all comes down to how you look at things.

How will you respond? How will you look at the situation? Will the glass be half full or half empty?

I hope you respond better than I do but if you struggle, let’s work on it together. So what’s the secret?

Focus on your “why”

I was in New Mexico to chase my dreams, this whole year I’ve been taking my dreams to new, higher levels, what reason do I have to complain? Answer: NONE!

If you have take action on your dreams than you’re one step closer to the life you truly want, focus on that awesome reality.

If you are not there yet, then still rejoice in the fact that you have a job, many don’t. We have so many things to be grateful for, we’re alive!!

A big part of truly living your life is the journey and how much you can enjoy the journey. Life is sooooooo short and before we know it we’re looking back talking about “when I was in High School”. I remember being in High School and now I have a son who’s about to enter seventh grade, CRAZY!

My main regret in life is not truly savoring every minute of thus far, the time wasted worrying about things I just can’t change. Going forward here I’m going to do my best to view the glass at half full, to savor the good and bad, and make the best out of it. I’m living out my dreams and that’s what I’m focusing on

Do you view the glass as half full or half empty? Anything you need to work on?

P.S. I thought this was a funny T-shirt so I bought it

 

The Depressing Part of a Job You Hate

Several years ago some of the independent operators in our warehouse decided to get together and form a drivers association. There were some disturbing things going on when the company got bought out by a larger company, a lot of new rules.

When we got together to meet, the company was very uncomfortable and wanted to break things up. When we had a private meeting two of the managers showed up to “talk” to guys as they entered the meeting.

When it was all said and done we were intimidated to give up and I was personally called into a “meeting”. I was told I was a trouble maker and that I was banned from coming to their warehouse. (OUCH!)

I had to hire a friend to go to the warehouse everyday to pick up the bread and then bring the truck to me outside of the property lines. At first I just shrugged it off but eventually it all hit me like a ton of bricks.

As the days went on it was harder and harder and my friend was getting tired of waking up at 1 a.m. to pick up bread even though I was paying him. I got really depressed, I wanted to get away from this bad situation and away from this negative environment.

Can you relate? Has your job ever depressed you?

This wasn’t the first time I was depressed at work and it’s not going to be the last. Just today (Thursday the 23rd) I had one of those days when everything seemed to go wrong. I went through the day depressed and angry, I just wanted to go home and sleep

In theory I know how to get through moments like these but when they happen all that knowledge goes out the window. The thing that got me through today was prayer and music.

I just took a moment to sit down in my truck, pray and then turned on my iPod. Eventually I started to get over it and realized how much I’m blessed.

You’re blessed and you can get through it too.

If you’re at a job you hate or even a job you like and you get depressed, you can get through it too. The best advice I can give you is to pray and focus on the positive. We truly are blessed, even in jobs we hate, there are many who would love just to have a job.

If you are taking action on your dream then it’s only a matter of time before we can move on to what we truly want to do in life, that’s a comforting thought.

If you feel like it’s to overwhelming, then do what we talked about in the last post, reach out for support I got over it and so can you!

How have you gotten over depressing times at work?