How to
Play the Game
“If you
start behind the 8-ball, you'll never get in front.”
Harvey
Specter
Sometimes, the rules for
business success make me want to scream, but I have to admit, some of
them apply to life outside the corner office. Here are five lessons
from Harvey Specter (Impiric Media website) on business success that
I think apply to life in general:
“Make a
good first impression.
Keep your
composure.
Bring
solutions, not excuses.
Take
responsibility.
Aim higher.”
Here are some examples of
abject failure for you to contemplate. The first words I spoke to a
man I'd conversed with on-line and was meeting for a first date: “I absolutely hate doing this!” That, my friends, is NOT how you
make a good first impression. Needless to say, I never saw him again.
A man, who had just moved into my neighborhood, took it upon himself
to step out on his front porch and yell at me because my small dog
had just pooped on the yard across the street from his house. It was
a rare occasion when I had run out of bags for picking up the mess,
and had just taken a stick and raked it into the street. This guy,
whose yard it was not, yelled curses, then threatened me, “I know
where you live!” Needless to say, that first impression stuck with
both of us. On average, we have approximately 30 seconds to make a
first impression, and first impressions are like super-glue. Don't
take any cues from me.
There's a woman at church
who, every week at prayer time, goes into a long diatribe about one
personal disaster after another and always bawls while she's telling
it. This not only monopolizes prayer time, but often causes
eye-rolling and less than Christian thoughts in the rest of the
congregation. Kissing and groping in public is also problematic.
Public displays of emotion/affection are often uncomfortable for
everyone in the room unless it happens to be the ICU waiting room in
a hospital, the parlor of a funeral home, or you are on your
honeymoon in the Bahamas. Try to avoid them if possible.
For goodness sake, if you
have a problem, find a solution. Don't wring your hands and expect
others to take care of it. Ask for help when you need it—offer help
when you can. But, don't make excuses that are simply designed to
delay and procrastinate. Or, at the very least, just explain to
others that you're procrastinating on this—then no one will have
expectations. Take responsibility for your lack of productivity, and
don't blame it on others. Our president and the legislative branch of
government could take a cue from that one.
Finally, and most
importantly, aim higher. Try every day to be a more decent and kinder
person to everyone you meet. Often people you would never suspect are
carrying heavy loads, and just a smile or a kind gesture can brighten
their day. You'll feel better, and so with they. If you start ahead
of the 8-ball, who knows, you just might win the game.
In the Spirit,
Jane
No comments:
Post a Comment