In my last post, I wrote about the lessons I learned from my dad. As I stated, the majority of things that I discovered, or at least the things that stuck, were learned by watching not what he said, but rather by watching what he did.
This week, in Part 2, let me tell you some of the things I did and learned over my 33+ year career working in the same company, in the same industry, and in the same office for every single one of those 10,000+ days that made all the difference in the world to me. Every single day. And it doesn’t end there, because I am still benefitting and learning new things today.
When you learn life lessons, hopefully, they permeate not just your professional life, but every other part of your life as well. Not only do they work their way into everything that you do, but they also stay with you day after day and year after year.
The absolute key to any and all success that I have ever had is people. How I treated them, how I valued them, and how I connected with them. If you know me personally, you know I am a very humble person. I have to say without apologies, however, that the number one thing I did and you must do is to treat other people the way you would want to be treated.
You can refer to the Golden Rule, doing unto others as you would have them do unto you. I would push you a step farther to also embody the famous quote by Maya Angelou, “People will not remember what you said, but they will always remember how you made them feel.” This requires effort on your part, but it is made much simpler if you approach each day with a positive mindset.
It follows then that you need to become masterful at networking and staying in touch with people. I cannot tell you how many times in my life and in my career I have been able to earn favors, advantages, and reciprocity from people I met at some point in my life and then reconnected with years later. Don’t ever burn a bridge. And don’t ever fail to show gratitude and to stay in touch.
Humility and kindness go hand-in-hand if you want to motivate people you work alongside and encourage cooperation and patronage with those whom you hope to establish any kind of relationship, no matter if it is business or personal. As much as I have given these qualities over the years, it has returned back to me exponentially.
Finally, let me encourage you to develop a mindset of putting other people first. You might argue that I have covered this throughout this post, however, let me give you just a couple of more tips on how to positively impact others. First, become a world-class listener. This may sound easy, but it takes a lot of work, every day.
The second and equally important thing to master is the art of asking questions. Again, I would argue this is not a freshmen-level class but one that requires consistent, committed effort over time. You must learn to ask questions in terms of what other people want and need, not to serve your own selfish interests.
These are only a handful of suggestions, but I will encourage you one last time in closing that they are skills that can be practiced quickly but are learned only by consistent commitment. The rewards will be life-changing and are likely to change the lives of others as well. It takes time but it is worth the effort every day, even if it takes a lifetime.
QUESTION: Which of these skills do you feel you have already mastered? Which do you know you need to begin working on NOW? Feel free to comment below and be sure to subscribe and share this blog to be notified each time we publish new content.
Did you enjoy this article? If you haven’t already, please be sure to subscribe to this blog, where I post every Tuesday. You can also get additional free content by subscribing to my YouTube channel or following me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or LinkedIn.