Can we get honest with each other for a few minutes this morning? You know what I mean, just you and I talking honestly, being transparent with each other. Is that OK with you?
Great! If you don’t mind, let me go first.
Here goes, I’ve got to be honest with you, I had a rough start to the weekend. I was trying to finish a project that demanded use of some new programs I had never used before. The hard work had been done for several days, the final step though required using a new to me software program and despite watching not only the software developer supplied support videos and FAQ’s, as well as multiple other videos found on YouTube demonstrating the process - it just wouldn’t work for me.
I even found one support video that had the software running on a MacBook Pro, following every step offered in that video still resulted in me not being able to duplicate the results as shown in the video.
Here is where the honesty comes in, I was beyond frustrated. I was annoyed, I was angry, I was perturbed to think that instead of using common upload and presentation tools this project demanded the use of an obscure program that offered no tangible benefit over other commonly used programs instead lending frustration to the process.
And I failed.
I failed big time.
In my frustration in not being able to complete what I was working on, I took my frustration out in reaction to my family. My wife summoned me to help her with something, and I allowed the annoyance of the project I was struggling with to affect me reaction to her - and she got mad at me.
And I deserved it. No doubt about it.
I was a jerk in the way I responded.
And I was wrong.
In the heat of the moment I allowed a stupid program on a computer located someplace far far away to cloud my judgment and influence my reactions to others. My response to my wife was wrong, the cause of which had nothing to do with her or the issue she was inquiring of me about.
As I ate crow and begged for forgiveness, I realized that there was a lesson there that I needed to be reminded of this week. Maybe its something you need to hear as well.
How often do we allow influences from one area of life to cloud our judgment in other areas?
How often do we allow that influence to affect negatively other aspects of our life?
If we are being honest with each other, my guess would be that our answer is, “more often than we’d like it to be.”
And within our honesty is a lesson I know I need to be reminded of, but perhaps you need to be reminded of as well this week. It’s not that we won’t face challenges or hurdles - its how we handle and respond to those challenges or hurdles that defines us. Within the context of my weekend, I failed in my response. I had to walk back my reaction and apologize to my wife. Thankfully I have a super cool wife who forgives, and that initial start to the weekend was quickly put behind us and we finished strong.
That project I was working on is another story. I’ve submitted all the supporting files along with an apology (and several screen shots showing my results) stating I was unable to get the project to load on the specific platform. I’ll have to wait and see how that ultimately shakes out - but at least for me - I was reminded in a powerful way that the way I act and react matters.
As you start this week, I know you will face issues that will bring you to a crossroads of reaction. Don’t fail the process like I did this past weekend. Take a minute and take a step back. Draw in a deep breath and be reminded that what you do next can influence the rest of your day or the balance of your week. The person(s) you are responding to may not be as kind and understanding as my wife was with me this weekend.
Have a great week, we’ll meet back here next week and celebrate our victories.
*****
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