RickWhite
Well-Known Member
This week I had two experiences that made me think about how people sabotage their own lives and ensure that they go nowhere.
First, there is my one temporary employee who has worked for me for the past week and has failed to show up 2 times in 5 days due to her social life. And this girl is in particular need of money right now. She just chose to stay out late instead of getting up for work.
Then there is my regular guy. We take very good care of him; he makes $12/hr and has a company truck and phone. He is generally a good employee and very reliable except he seems to try very hard to keep his own wage down. He does this by generally having his head up his ass. By this I mean he is completely uncontentious and just does not think about what he is doing. He also seems to always look for the slowest way to do everything. It is as if he begins a task and just lets his mind wander off to his special happy place. Ask him to do a 1 hour job and two hours later he will have screwed it up or be in the process of screwing it up. And he does this simply because he doesn't think or doesn't care.
We are actually to the point where we keep him doing his regular production job and hire outsiders to do odd jobs around the shop because we know he will find a way to fuck it up or make a career out of it. Then when we correct him on things he does wrong he makes excuses instead of owning it and just saying he will do better. All I want is for him to say "OK." Instead he wants a damn debate.
Now in fairness he is the best employee I have had. The rest were either unreliable or wanted to tell me how to run my business and didn't want to follow orders. One guy who I found sleeping on the job through a fit when we let him go and felt that we owed him something in exchange for his work despite having been paid in full. The stories go on and on.
So why am I writing this? Well, I'm writing this to point out that my friend was right when he told me that most people are where they are in life for a reason. Now I still insist that this isn't always the case - read the book "rich dad, poor dad." But regardless of whether or not you had a poor dad or have childhood scars which are often devastating, people have to come to terms with the fact that you are ultimately the architect of your own happiness.
Ultimately, it will be your work ethic, your confidence, your attitude, your ability to conduct yourself properly and your choices that will determine how far you go in life. I had a very difficult way to go growing up and for many years I let this keep me from succeeding. In fact, being dyslexic I was systematically prevented from succeeding in school - they didn't have computers back then and they didn't want to know why I couldn't write neatly or spell correctly. So for a long time I worked in construction and other jobs I could get with no degree and I hated it like poison. It was not until I took control of my own life and decided to take the bull by the horns and start my own business that my situation improved.
But my story isn't that unusual. Yes, it is harder for some than for others. But, every day I do business with people who came here from war torn countries and brutal dictatorships. I see people sleeping on cots in the back of their business. I see people working 18 hour days and I see these people's lives eventually get better and better. In the meanwhile I also see lazy people who refuse to work. I hear young men at the lunch counter talk about how unfair life is and how they should burn down the business' of the guys working their fingers to the bone because they say, "they ain't giving us nothing."
I see every day the the stark contrast between those who are going somewhere and those who are going nowhere. I see it, I hear it and I know the reasons for it. The reason lies solely with the individual. It lies in how that person thinks and what they are willing to do. It lies in the decisions they make and in their attitude and their work ethic. Those who are willing to get out there and work hard can and do make it in America. Those that sit around whining about how unfair the world is and how America owes them a living go nowhere.
First, there is my one temporary employee who has worked for me for the past week and has failed to show up 2 times in 5 days due to her social life. And this girl is in particular need of money right now. She just chose to stay out late instead of getting up for work.
Then there is my regular guy. We take very good care of him; he makes $12/hr and has a company truck and phone. He is generally a good employee and very reliable except he seems to try very hard to keep his own wage down. He does this by generally having his head up his ass. By this I mean he is completely uncontentious and just does not think about what he is doing. He also seems to always look for the slowest way to do everything. It is as if he begins a task and just lets his mind wander off to his special happy place. Ask him to do a 1 hour job and two hours later he will have screwed it up or be in the process of screwing it up. And he does this simply because he doesn't think or doesn't care.
We are actually to the point where we keep him doing his regular production job and hire outsiders to do odd jobs around the shop because we know he will find a way to fuck it up or make a career out of it. Then when we correct him on things he does wrong he makes excuses instead of owning it and just saying he will do better. All I want is for him to say "OK." Instead he wants a damn debate.
Now in fairness he is the best employee I have had. The rest were either unreliable or wanted to tell me how to run my business and didn't want to follow orders. One guy who I found sleeping on the job through a fit when we let him go and felt that we owed him something in exchange for his work despite having been paid in full. The stories go on and on.
So why am I writing this? Well, I'm writing this to point out that my friend was right when he told me that most people are where they are in life for a reason. Now I still insist that this isn't always the case - read the book "rich dad, poor dad." But regardless of whether or not you had a poor dad or have childhood scars which are often devastating, people have to come to terms with the fact that you are ultimately the architect of your own happiness.
Ultimately, it will be your work ethic, your confidence, your attitude, your ability to conduct yourself properly and your choices that will determine how far you go in life. I had a very difficult way to go growing up and for many years I let this keep me from succeeding. In fact, being dyslexic I was systematically prevented from succeeding in school - they didn't have computers back then and they didn't want to know why I couldn't write neatly or spell correctly. So for a long time I worked in construction and other jobs I could get with no degree and I hated it like poison. It was not until I took control of my own life and decided to take the bull by the horns and start my own business that my situation improved.
But my story isn't that unusual. Yes, it is harder for some than for others. But, every day I do business with people who came here from war torn countries and brutal dictatorships. I see people sleeping on cots in the back of their business. I see people working 18 hour days and I see these people's lives eventually get better and better. In the meanwhile I also see lazy people who refuse to work. I hear young men at the lunch counter talk about how unfair life is and how they should burn down the business' of the guys working their fingers to the bone because they say, "they ain't giving us nothing."
I see every day the the stark contrast between those who are going somewhere and those who are going nowhere. I see it, I hear it and I know the reasons for it. The reason lies solely with the individual. It lies in how that person thinks and what they are willing to do. It lies in the decisions they make and in their attitude and their work ethic. Those who are willing to get out there and work hard can and do make it in America. Those that sit around whining about how unfair the world is and how America owes them a living go nowhere.
