DRIVING FORCES
. . . a need be driven
Monday Jan. 6, 2014
Chances are pretty good that, no matter how you measure success or how much success you have, it won’t matter to anyone as much as it matters to you.
Not to say that success or accomplishment is self-centered, but just that nobody understands the work, appreciates your difficulty or celebrates the value as much as you do.
This is not an egomaniac problem – it is an everybody problem.
What do you predict?
When you do, is it for your whole life, or just for work, just about business?
First work week begins in earnest – for many, first work day in more than two weeks – productivity resumes.
Not for everyone, but for most of us.
Many people go to work to bring home bacon.
Some bring home a lot more.
Why is that?
Nobody gets a head start. Each year resets to zero.
So, here I am. It’s the 6th already. One week on, what have I done, what will I do?
Just as selling steak is part selling sizzle, making a living isn’t the same as making a life – but for most of us what we do is such a huge part of our lives, our persona, that it is hard to separate one from the other. For some, that is a clear divide. For others the two intersect and become interwoven, inseparable. That can be good and bad I suppose – but because I consider myself a happy member of that interwoven group, I prefer to call it a good thing.
Luckier, more skilled, better educated, better funded, more experience, harder working?
Sometimes, many things.
Sometimes, none of the above.
Considering we all start the year as equals – with zero on the books, what separates us from others, or from our own past performances, what drives us? Or fails to?
Sales quotas, budget projections – growth, profitability, value, values? Corporate vs. personal, or is it corporate + personal?
I predict – I will only accomplish those things I try. I will only try things I want to do. I will only want to do things I believe in. I will only believe in things which provide a thrill and/or do some good.
The year, the week begins – drive on!
“If you don’t drive your business, you will be driven out of business.” – B.C. Forbes
“Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves.” – Albert Einstein
“Trying to predict the future is like trying to drive down a country road at night with no lights while looking out the rear window”. – Peter Drucker
What drives you, what do you predict you will do for 2014, and what will success look like for you?
Or, are achievement of goals, targets and accomplishments measured in money terms the only measuring stick we should use when determining if we have a good year?
Someone commented to me recently, in terms of my personal pursuits that maybe I need to get lucky, work/look harder, or bring down my expectations.
Actually, I was thinking I need to bring them up higher, raise them so I stretch with them.
For me, satisfaction with my work has far less to do with money than it used to. Money remains important because it pays for things, but satisfaction comes from different things that were not so important when I was younger. Relationships are more important.
Influencing outcomes – in business and for people – is a greater reward in many ways.
To be valued can only come after we do things that are valuable – not always in our eyes, but in eyes of others.
Being right is good, but not as important as being right-thoughted. Right-motivated. Right-intentioned. You get my meaning …
Mark Kolke
200,008
column written/ published from Calgary
morning walk: -12C / 11F, dark, traffic building early – Gusta not interested in being out long even though it has warmed up considerably . . .
Reader feedback / comments always welcome:
I've been inquisitive and read a few of your markmusing articles. I have found those I've read to be insightful, curious, with an element of loss and a yearning for something not yet within reach, P, Libby, MT
Dear Mark. As simple as I can:
Read your column almost every day.
I love the human being within you.
Love what you offer.
Essentially I see the world like you.
So far I have not found anything "insurmountable" in my way if I'm in love.
I am one of many that could sign this email,
My advice: get rid of the requirements and allow someone to receive you as a great gift you are
... in silence, please, MMP, Toronto, ON
