I’ve been told…. You can’t worry about everyone….Choose your battles….Focus on what you need to focus on….
I do care, about people, about fairness, about what is right. What I think and feel align with my core values. It will always be people first, then process, then productivity. I realise more and more that I cannot change that.
So I suppose I will fail as I don’t focus on what I need to, I don’t only care about those I ‘have’ to. And yes, I can’t save the world. But I can try.
Looking back, I have fought.. for fairness, for equal opportunity, for what is right and for so many people. It’s invisible and these pursuits will never be known, but in my heart, I know that my weakness of ‘caring too much’ made a difference for some.
Sometimes we have to just accept what is and let go. Things are not always meant to be. Sometimes doors close and it might be a gentle reminder that we should have never journeyed through to start with.
The place you find yourself in might be exactly where you need to be, or where you should never have been to start with.
With my eldest daughter starting her first year at Uni this week and my youngest starting year 10, our conversations are often about direction and the future. Where they want to be, what they want to achieve and how they want to steer themselves in the right direction to get to their goals.
Something I often tell them in our discussions about friends or challenges, is to identify what they do not want, and what they do not like. It may seem somewhat negative, but I strongly believe that identifying what you do not like in any situation or in yourself, can help you to focus on what you do want to do.
Establishing your values, and knowing what your opinions are and having the conviction to stand by them. Entering the work force where focus is so centred on profit and performance, it could be challenging finding value in what you do every day. Work can become a soul draining experience to put food on the table. Â
I want them to find their purpose, fail and try again, and fail and try again.. until they find their fire, and I want them to find a company to work for who’s values align with theirs. It pains me when people can’t see past their paycheck. You will always have that in any company, people being there just because they have to be. Frustratingly ignorant, complaining but never taking the time to ask the right questions. They don’t take the time to understand the corporate strategy, they don’t take the time to ask how decisions are made, they don’t ask about profit margins, have no idea of the growth strategy and where they fit in.Â
I want my girls to question, to be curious and ask those questions. To go seek the value they can bring to any job they enter into after having knowledge of the company they have chosen. Knowing their purpose and knowing how they fit into the much bigger puzzle of adding value and service. I want them to work hard and be forward thinking. And most of all, I want them to be kind. Life will have many challenges and hard conversations. You don’t have to be an ass to get your way. People…all people, are valuable.Â
There are too many people chasing a big paycheck and far too few people finding purpose and fulfillment in what they do.Â
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Lyrics and Chocolate 