This has been one long and tiring month. The start of the year is always stressful. Even though I had a great year in 07, my results can no longer carry me in 08; it's a new year with new production goals. Having said that, I am strangely fueled by the challenge. I'm a rather competitive guy, so I enjoy taking on challenges and proving myself. Now that I have two beautiful girls at home depending on me, my drive to succeed is even greater.
Being rewarded for hard work is wonderful. In my job, if you hit your numbers you are rewarded - it's as easy as that. For my wife, and many others out there in the world, it is not the same; hard work cannot be measured by a number at the end of the day. My wife does not have a year-end evaluation, nor does she have monthly production meetings to measure where she's at compared to goal. But she works hard just the same. I think of my high school youth pastor and the amount of time and energy he poured into his students. I think of the professors that spent so much time outside of class, teaching me things that could not be found in a text book. Parenting has helped me appreciate all the hard work my parents put into raising me. Hard work produces results. Maybe not the exact result you want, maybe not even a measurable result, but it produces results - I'm a firm believer in that and hope that my kids can have the same kind of people influencing their life as I did growing up.
This past week, my hard work was rewarded as I was promoted to Assistant Vice President after 2.5 years with the company. When I started right out of college, I knew nothing about insurance or risk management, but I was willing to bust my butt to learn it, and made sure I absorbed every bit of knowledge I could from everyone I worked with. I don't say this to "toot my own horn" as that is not the purpose of this post. Sure, I am proud of my accomplishment, but at the end of the day, a title means nothing if you don't back it up with continued hard work. At age 25, I don't have much of life figured out, but I do know that much.
1 comment:
"I knew nothing about insurance or risk management, but I was willing to bust my butt to learn it, and made sure I absorbed every bit of knowledge I could from everyone I worked with."
That is ultimately what will make you a successful businessman. It isn't that you know everything. But work your butt off and make sure you learn everything you can. You aren't afraid of a challenge.
It is also what I find makes work fun. I think if I went into a job I actually felt prepared for everyday, I would be seriously bored.
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