DON'T BOTHER ME. I'M HAVING A BAD DAY!
You ever had one of those "bad days", where absolutely NOTHING seems to go right? I mean, if you bought a bar of Ivory soap, and tested it, YOU'D be the one who bought the
impure one? It would sink straight to the bottom of the sink! Are you with me?
I recently had one of these, myself. It was my fault. Totally. Well, let's say "ninety-nine and forty-four one-hundredths percent" my fault. I embarked on something I
thought I was prepared for, but I wasn't. I blew it. Choked. And then came the dominos ... another goof...and another...and, well, a BAD DAY! And it multiplied into two
or three bad days in a row. Been there? Man! It wasn't pretty.
What we're really talking about here, are little failures - 'Itsy 'bitsy speed bumps that, over time, just seem to multiply.
"Listen here, Mac, don't bother me. I'm having a bad day. I've earned it, [expletive deleted], I like it, [expletive deleted], and
you have no right to take it away from me! Now, get outta' here, you jerk, and let me enjoy it!"
It's funny. You and I probably know people who actually DO enjoy these bad days -- they're absolutely LOST if some little black cloud isn't hanging over them all the time.
I guess they need the little black cloud for navigation, or something.
But, this isn't about them. This is about, and forgive me if I include myself in this group ... this is about "us normal folk" , who certainly don't enjoy
bad days, but they happen. Little back to back setbacks, that multiply. And they happen ... these little failures do ... only because we haven't prepared for
them.
POP QUIZ
What would you say is the number one reason for failure? Any kind of failure ... business or personal ... any kind? Would it be lack of planning? Inadequate funding
(in business)? Mistakes and errors? Think on it.
I'll tell you up front that when I was having this recent multi-car pileup of so-called "bad days", my initial reaction was to quit. But I elected to tighten the seat belt,
and ride it out. I got a couple of dents, but the car still runs! Here's what happened. It doesn't matter what the specific project was.
Going into this one particular deal, I knew that I was unsure of myself. Oh, I was prepared. I'd done my homework, but I was nervous. Hell, I wasn't nervous, I was
rattlesnake scared! You know the feeling. And, sure enough, I botched it. I'd totally forgotten that the number one reason for failure is NOT lack of funding or planning,
or even stupidity. The number one reason for failure - what started this snowball for me -- is the FEAR of failure, itself. And, boy, did I get what
I feared.
So, I took it all as a big-time lesson. Stop fearing failure. I knew that ... I'd just forgotten it. And, as for the project ... well, they say that greatness
courts failure (whoever "they" are). But I like it better the way Carol Burnette says it: "Comedy is Tragedy (or, failure) plus Time." Tick-Tock, Tick-Tock. Look ... I
do believe that Ivory soap's trying to come to the top. Onward!
HAVE A GOOD WEEK, EVERYONE...
O'C
