S Truett Cathy, the mastermind behind Chick-fil-A once said, “My most satisfying day is the day I work the hardest—the day I get the most accomplished.”
Being an admitted and fully accredited work-a-holic…I look at comments like this and laugh the sort of chuckle that fits uncomfortably under the breath—no day passes that we don’t find ourselves comparing daily paths with coworkers, family members and neighbors constantly wondering how some people get away with murder while others are driven deeper into the ground of company policy.
Work ethics and procedures are based on levels of expectation, personal versus job demanded. My father busted his tail for forty years in the steel industry and got no further than heavily scarred hands and a beat up body. On the outside, as much as he tried to entertain his eight children he always came across as horribly unhappy. I knew at the age of six what I didn’t want to be.
Collecting records, 8-track tapes and larger than life speakers spelled out a poor man’s curse, I vowed to become massively more popular than a chicken farmer…whatever it took to be happier than the figure that kept the electricity on inside the self built house on Ryan Ave.
I read the other day that ten years ago most American adults endure the pressures of lifes failure during their mid to late forties—one look at the chapters that have been written and a darkened sigh is released into the air that feverishly screams, “I didn’t get to do what I wanted to become.”
Pop the clock up on the realms of modern day reality and those numbers dramatically change—new research shows the average twenty one to twenty five year old in 2010 looks at themselves as being a total failure with no hope of attaining the rights to holding whatever dreams led them toward a horizon assumed approachable.
S Truett Cathy’s quote continues, “When someone does something less than what they are capable of doing, its work.”
Could this be why so many millions hate their jobs? When doing less than what you’re capable why should someone move forward knowing such actions and reactions are nothing more than a statue or mountain nobody wants to look at? When there is no reason to grow...why should we donate leaves to a tree?
I know exactly where I stood between the ages in question and have never been proud of the endeavors to achieve what have since become the years I pull from when sitting with future Broadcasters basking in the rays of new beginnings worth chasing. Those fresh from high school and over protective parent adventures unmasked a willingness to make and accept mistakes while expanding the options of not letting them control my life by way of keeping me away from turning every step into a success making device.
A wise man isn’t an old man nor does age have anything to do with being wise. Experience, good or bad, bends and folds into place the shapes that become the figures we often call shadows.
How many times has Donald Trump filed for bankruptcy?
In the late 80’s David Letterman asked the real estate tycoon if he’d ever run for President. Compared to today’s notes, bankruptcy would’ve made Trump a hero who might physically have the knowledge to lift a nation out of a financial crisis rather rely on foreign promises and money picked fresh daily from an invisible tree.
What if Trump had stopped at twenty one? Betsy Ross was in her late seventies when the United States Flag was sewn into the seams of history. Mic Jagger, Paul McCartney and Don Henley from The Eagles have mooned the idea of getting old and crossed the 60 year mark continuing to build a financial empire worth millions because they’ve learned the fine art of giving customers exactly what they want.
In fact Don’s songwriting partner Glenn Frey recently told the press their new tour won’t feature any new music because people won’t pay to hear something they don’t know. What if Henley and Frey had stopped during those struggling years with Linda Ronstadt?
Truett finds faith in knowing, “When you do an outstanding job in your performance, it’s rewarding.”
But where do you locate acceptance in a world of work where bosses have no desire of learning anything more than your availability. If that’s not possible, that’s ok; we’ll find someone who is.
The press is extremely correct in saying how tough times are…if a 21 to 25 year old has lost faith in helping to put our future into motion…how are those following them reacting to a serious lack of inspiration and influence? Where is the leader who’ll step up to the podium and convince businesses how important it is to create proper growth inside a company without intimidating dreams?
There can be no new beginnings if every step you take is living in the past. We've become a nation who finds enjoyment in cutting down trees because it makes the yard look ugly totally forgetting the roots of everyday life is the strength that keeps a tree from leaning.
arroecollins@clearchannel.com
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