Journal Entry

Week 9

A Hero’s Journey

Jeff Sanders tells the story of how he worked long, hard hours out in the unrelenting sun of West Texas as a teenager. Then her got this great idea that would allow him to remain in the air conditioning while others did the hard, manual labor in the sun and that summer he made $100,000. As I read that, it seemed like such a simple thing. It didn’t require a tone of planning, preparation, writing of business plans, finding of investors, etc. He had an idea, he convinced other people to work with him, and he made a lot of money.

As I ponder on my gifts and talents, I wonder what it is that I could do to find that kind of success without gambling a lot of money or incurring a lot of debt. It is exciting to think that it might be possible to find something like that if I keep my eyes open to the needs in my community. But, my skillset is in baking and my education is in Marriage and Family Studies. So where does the community need intersect with those two factors in my life? What is my calling?

Theodore Roosevelt said, “The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat, and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

I know I need to get in the arena. I need to stop being afraid of failing and start planning for success. I need to drown out the voices in my head that are telling me I am too old, too unprepared, too uninformed, too dumb and start praying for direction and pushing forward despite the noise. I need to replace those thoughts with two simple words: I CAN!

CAN’T

Edgar A. Guest (1881 – 1959)

Can't is the worst word that's written or spoken; 

Doing more harm here than slander and lies; 

On it is many a strong spirit broken, 

And with it many a good purpose dies. 

It springs from the lips of the thoughtless each morning 

And robs us of courage we need through the day: 

It rings in our ears like a timely-sent warning 

And laughs when we falter and fall by the way. 

Can't is the father of feeble endeavor, 

The parent of terror and half-hearted work; 

It weakens the efforts of artisans clever, 

And makes of the toiler an indolent shirk. 

It poisons the soul of the man with a vision, 

It stifles in infancy many a plan; 

It greets honest toiling with open derision 

And mocks at the hopes and the dreams of a man. 

Can't is a word none should speak without blushing; 

To utter it should be a symbol of shame; 

Ambition and courage it daily is crushing; 

It blights a man's purpose and shortens his aim. 

Despise it with all of your hatred of error; 

Refuse it the lodgment it seeks in your brain; 

Arm against it as a creature of terror, 

And all that you dream of you some day shall gain. 

Can't is the word that is foe to ambition, 

An enemy ambushed to shatter your will; 

Its prey is forever the man with a mission 

And bows but to courage and patience and skill.

Hate it, with hatred that's deep and undying, 

For once it is welcomed 'twill break any man; 

Whatever the goal you are seeking, keep trying 

And answer this demon by saying: "I can."

What if the pantry of my mind was filled with “cans” instead of  “can’ts”

What would some of those “Cans” be?

1- In the video clip “Aspects of Building Trust,” we were told that our first step in business should be to trust others, and then they will trust you. Interestingly enough, he said that there are two kinds of people in the world, Bakers and Eaters. People who trust are Bakers. This caught my attention because I am a baker! I do tend to trust people, and I believe people trust me. So, one of my “Cans” would be TRUST.

2- In another video clip titled, “Hiring Ethical People,” Frank Levinson tried to instill in us the importance of hiring nice people and of being nice to others. He stressed that the whole goal of business is to weld customers to you by treating them as you’d like to be treated. This may be one of my spiritual gifts: to be KIND. So, I could put that “Can” in my pantry as well.

3- Another video titled, “Leadership and Capability,” from former U.S. presidential candidate, Carly Fiorina, outlined 3 things that are important in leadership:

1-      Capability – to ask questions and really hear the answers

2-      Collaboration

3-      Character

She stressed that customer satisfaction is an indicator of how a company is doing. That when we listen to what our customers have to say, we are better able to serve them and fill their needs. We should learn new things every day and be adaptive to change. I need to do some work on some of this, but the “Can” I would be able to place in my pantry today would be that I can LISTEN.

          In a summary article written on the book, “Good to Great” by Jim Collins, we learn that many company’s fail to become great because they are content being good. Collins says, “I believe it is no harder to build something great than to build something good. It might be statistically more rare to reach greatness, but it does not require more suffering than perpetuating mediocrity… Few people attain great lives, in large part because it is just do easy to settle for a good life…That good is the enemy of great is not just a business problem. It is a human problem.”

If I am going to be successful, I need to stop settling for good and strive for great. The more “CANS” I add to my pantry, the better prepared I will be.