I used to always read novels on airplanes. I travel regularly for business, and at one time I would habitually consume lots of fiction to absorb time on airplanes and in hotel rooms. I guess my thinking was; “I spend all day thinking about business … I deserve a break.” But I have to say that as I’ve matured in my professional practice, as I’ve become aware of the process, I now find that I almost always read work-related non-fiction in that captive time. I’m eager to know more and more about behavioral change, about habit loops, about brain science. You name it; I soak it all up now. And guess what – I have tons more fun in what I do to earn a living than ever before.
Every part of life is like that. As with any growth, the development of insight, of knowledge and experience matters. It matters a lot! Think about the most important “process” on the planet … parenting. I have three daughters, eight years apart from youngest to oldest. Do you think I behaved any differently as a father from the first daughter to the second? From the first to the third? You bet I did. Shame on me if I hadn’t learned and grown … and the more you know, the more you enjoy. When it came my youngest daughter’s turn to bang up one of my vehicles (they all get their turn) I went out to the drive to look at it. My only comment was, “It’s fine, nobody got hurt.” My eldest had witnessed this and asked, “Who are you, and what have you done with my father?” We learn different “moves” over time. We learn what works and when to use the moves, at work and at home, and it makes us more effective – and more at ease – in the bargain.
The more you know, the more you enjoy whatever it is you apply yourself to. And would you like a bonus truth here? My eldest daughter’s mentor, Todd Durkin, has a saying; “If you don’t like it, it’s because you need it”. He is an internationally known fitness expert and coach and he’s referring to specific exercises. If you don’t like push ups, it might be that you have some weaknesses in certain muscles of the chest and … and that you do in fact need push-ups!
This is true of all things we delude ourselves into thinking we don’t deserve to be burdened with.
Let’s do something different:
- Buy a professional text and read it. Develop a new skill relevant to your current job – or your next one.
- Reach out within your organization to discover the professional development classes available to you … take one within the next 120 days.
If you don’t like it, it’s probably because you need it – and the more you know, the more you enjoy! Do something different now.
-Don Brown
Don Brown dedicates his career to ‘helping people with people’ in leadership, sales and customer service. Bilingual and experienced at the executive and line-level alike, you see the results of his work across dozens of industries, including brewing, automotive, airline, banking and medical equipment.
Speaking, writing, coaching and selling to the best – Ford Motor Company, Anheuser-Busch, United Airlines, Harley-Davidson, Jaguar Cars, Hilton Hotels and many, many more – Don takes great pride in long-standing customer relationships (some running well over twenty years).
