Chuck Givens was on his way to conduct a workshop 200 miles away from his home. He left in plenty of time and looked forward to the drive. He enjoyed taking the tight mountain curves in his sports car. On that particular day, however, his fan belt broke and the car immediately overheated. Nevertheless, he decided to press on in the hope of finding a gas station with a fan belt. But a few minutes later, his engine froze and he faced another choice: he could either call and cancel his workshop or he could try and get to his destination some other way.
So he decided to hitchhike and although there wasn’t much traffic, within 10 minutes a car stopped and not only did the driver deliver him to his exact destination, but the driver also decided to enroll himself for the workshop. At the end of the program, he asked those in attendance, “Hey, is anybody heading my way?” Ten hands shot up and he got a ride home. At the day’s close, Chuck felt calm and successful, rather than angry and frustrated.
The conclusion: events control our life only if we give them that power. It’s often better to take the challenge of pressing on rather than becoming buried in the problem of the moment.
I read this account and I thought that sometimes that is a difficult decision to make, because circumstances can crowd our thinking. And mitigating circumstances on the other hand, can really make us wonder whether we ought to move forward or whether it’s a sign to pull the plug on something. We look at the circumstances and think, “Maybe these are good reasons why I shouldn’t press on.” But looking at Chuck Givens' account, his car packed up, he wasn’t able to make it on his own to the place where he was conducting his workshop, yet he decided to press on. And when he did so, it seemed like everything fell into place. He got a ride to the venue and then got a ride back home as well; and the person who gave him the ride attended the workshop – couldn’t have gotten better. He says, at the end of it, that he was happy, calm and successful rather than frustrated.
I’ve been there and I know you have too. There are times when we wonder: we’re in this dilemma. Is it time to just quit/pull out? Are the circumstances actually giving us a message? Or are they just diversionary tactics meant to pull us off the track and quit?
Many years ago, in the late 60’s, Scott Paper was the leading company in paper-based consumer products. Then Proctor and Gamble decided that they wanted to diversify and so they got into the paper-based consumer business. Analysts write that Scott Paper simply gave up. They were the leader, but the moment they knew that a giant like Proctor and Gamble were coming in, they gave up. This once proud company began to look at it’s competition and say, “Here’s how we stack up against the best,” and sighed, “Oh well, at least there are people in the business worse than we are.” And instead of figuring out how to get back on the offensive and win, Scott Paper just tried to protect what it had, conceding that the top end of the market would go to P&G. They hoped that by hiding away in the B category, they would be left alone by the big monster that had invaded its turf. They just rolled over and gave up.
But Kimberley-Clark, on the other hand, whose CEO at that time was Darwin E. Smith, looked at Proctor and Gamble not as a liability but as an asset. Jim Collins says that at one internal gathering, Darwin Smith stood up and started his talk by saying, “Ok, guys. I want everyone to rise in a moment of silence.” Everybody was stunned, wondering what Darwin was up to. Did somebody die? After a moment of confusion they stood up and stared at their shoes in reverent silence. After an appropriate pause, Smith looked out at the group and said in a somber tone, “That was the moment of silence for Procter and Gamble.” The place went bananas! Blair White, a director who witnessed the incident, said, “He had everyone wound up, all up and down the company, right down to the plant floor. We were taking on Goliath."
Two different people, two different companies and the way they reacted to a new circumstance coming into their path. As I thought about that, I wondered how we respond when circumstances get difficult. Do we crawl up, push ourselves into a hole and say, “Well, let me just find another place that’s not where I used to be and accept it”? Or do we stand up and say, “Here’s the challenge! This is what I was meant for. I am going to accept the challenge and press on.”
Things like this happen not only in our companies, but in our personal lives as well. Maybe today you are facing a decision in your area of work where there are circumstances that are begging the question, “Is this the time really to quit, pull out; or is this the time to step on the gas and say, I’m not giving in. I am going to speed ahead.?” Or maybe it’s in your personal life; you’re looking at your job situation and wondering whether this is the end of the road as far as this particular job is concerned.
Ronald Riggio wrote an article published in Psychology Today entitled, ‘When is the Time to Quit Your Job?’ He basically says that there are 4 key issues that you need to look at:
1. There is absolutely no possibility of promotion. There is no way to move forward in this particular situation.
2. You are in a toxic workplace environment. There are different issues at stake. Maybe there are harassment issues, physical contact, verbal abuse, bullying, and all kinds of things that are really toxic.
3. When your current job limits your personal growth and development. You feel stagnant in your current job either because the work is too easy or too low-level and you have greater ambition, then it’s time to start looking for a position that will allow you to grow and develop.
4. When you have become too comfortable and complacent, do a reality check. Are you staying in a job simply because it seems easier to stay put rather than try something new? Do you feel like you are in a rut but it seems too daunting to put yourself out on the job market?
These are signs that it’s time to move on.
Mary Luttrel in a quote on perseverance says, “In times of hardship, the critical task of a leader is often reduced to the most basic level; to simply keep going.”
I’m throwing both sides to you this morning. Is it time to quit or is it time to dig in your heels and say, “I’m going to keep going on”? Sometimes we need a little outside push to be able to do something like that.
I came across this story: Walking down the road one day, a turtle fell into a pothole in the center of a country road. He spun his little legs but could not free himself. A rabbit came hopping along and offered assistance. But no matter what they tried, the turtle remained stuck in the muddy hole. “It’s no use,” the turtle said, “There’s no hope for me.” Various other animal friends passed his way but the turtle refused their help believing his destiny was sealed in the muck of the hole in which he had fallen. He sighed, “It’s hopeless!” and then pulled his head inside his shell. Then he heard a rumble and peeping from his shell, he spotted a tractor heading straight for the pothole in which he sat. Without another thought, he scrambled out of the hole and across the road for safety. Later that day, some of his animal friends saw him and asked, “Hey, how did you get free? We thought you couldn’t get out of the pothole.” The turtle replied, “Oh, I couldn’t, but then I had to.”
Are you in a pothole this morning in your life? Are you saying that I can’t? Maybe it’s time to look around and see whether there are things heading your way that make you say, “I have to.” Either you’ve got to quit; take a stand and leave something because you know it’s something that you’ve got to do, or you need to take a stand and say “I’m going to press on.” Either way, the right thing to do at this point is not to roll up and say, “Well, this is the way life is stacked up against me.” The thing to do is to be decisive.
For me, one of the most assuring things as I look at decision making in my life is to know that I can turn to God who knows more than I know about the situation. And in His Holy Book that He has given us, He says, “I am the Lord, your God, who teaches you what is best for you; who directs you in the way you should go.” (Isaiah 48:17)
(Isaiah 30:21) “And at your back, when you are turning to your right hand or your left hand, a voice will be sounding in your ears, saying, ‘This is the way in which you are to go’.”
I wonder today whether you need to hear that voice. If you do, ask Him. He is just a prayer away from you. But it is time to decide. It’s time to get out of that pothole and say, “I am going to do this because it is right.”
God Bless You All.
So he decided to hitchhike and although there wasn’t much traffic, within 10 minutes a car stopped and not only did the driver deliver him to his exact destination, but the driver also decided to enroll himself for the workshop. At the end of the program, he asked those in attendance, “Hey, is anybody heading my way?” Ten hands shot up and he got a ride home. At the day’s close, Chuck felt calm and successful, rather than angry and frustrated.
The conclusion: events control our life only if we give them that power. It’s often better to take the challenge of pressing on rather than becoming buried in the problem of the moment.
I read this account and I thought that sometimes that is a difficult decision to make, because circumstances can crowd our thinking. And mitigating circumstances on the other hand, can really make us wonder whether we ought to move forward or whether it’s a sign to pull the plug on something. We look at the circumstances and think, “Maybe these are good reasons why I shouldn’t press on.” But looking at Chuck Givens' account, his car packed up, he wasn’t able to make it on his own to the place where he was conducting his workshop, yet he decided to press on. And when he did so, it seemed like everything fell into place. He got a ride to the venue and then got a ride back home as well; and the person who gave him the ride attended the workshop – couldn’t have gotten better. He says, at the end of it, that he was happy, calm and successful rather than frustrated.
I’ve been there and I know you have too. There are times when we wonder: we’re in this dilemma. Is it time to just quit/pull out? Are the circumstances actually giving us a message? Or are they just diversionary tactics meant to pull us off the track and quit?
Many years ago, in the late 60’s, Scott Paper was the leading company in paper-based consumer products. Then Proctor and Gamble decided that they wanted to diversify and so they got into the paper-based consumer business. Analysts write that Scott Paper simply gave up. They were the leader, but the moment they knew that a giant like Proctor and Gamble were coming in, they gave up. This once proud company began to look at it’s competition and say, “Here’s how we stack up against the best,” and sighed, “Oh well, at least there are people in the business worse than we are.” And instead of figuring out how to get back on the offensive and win, Scott Paper just tried to protect what it had, conceding that the top end of the market would go to P&G. They hoped that by hiding away in the B category, they would be left alone by the big monster that had invaded its turf. They just rolled over and gave up.
But Kimberley-Clark, on the other hand, whose CEO at that time was Darwin E. Smith, looked at Proctor and Gamble not as a liability but as an asset. Jim Collins says that at one internal gathering, Darwin Smith stood up and started his talk by saying, “Ok, guys. I want everyone to rise in a moment of silence.” Everybody was stunned, wondering what Darwin was up to. Did somebody die? After a moment of confusion they stood up and stared at their shoes in reverent silence. After an appropriate pause, Smith looked out at the group and said in a somber tone, “That was the moment of silence for Procter and Gamble.” The place went bananas! Blair White, a director who witnessed the incident, said, “He had everyone wound up, all up and down the company, right down to the plant floor. We were taking on Goliath."
Two different people, two different companies and the way they reacted to a new circumstance coming into their path. As I thought about that, I wondered how we respond when circumstances get difficult. Do we crawl up, push ourselves into a hole and say, “Well, let me just find another place that’s not where I used to be and accept it”? Or do we stand up and say, “Here’s the challenge! This is what I was meant for. I am going to accept the challenge and press on.”
Things like this happen not only in our companies, but in our personal lives as well. Maybe today you are facing a decision in your area of work where there are circumstances that are begging the question, “Is this the time really to quit, pull out; or is this the time to step on the gas and say, I’m not giving in. I am going to speed ahead.?” Or maybe it’s in your personal life; you’re looking at your job situation and wondering whether this is the end of the road as far as this particular job is concerned.
Ronald Riggio wrote an article published in Psychology Today entitled, ‘When is the Time to Quit Your Job?’ He basically says that there are 4 key issues that you need to look at:
1. There is absolutely no possibility of promotion. There is no way to move forward in this particular situation.
2. You are in a toxic workplace environment. There are different issues at stake. Maybe there are harassment issues, physical contact, verbal abuse, bullying, and all kinds of things that are really toxic.
3. When your current job limits your personal growth and development. You feel stagnant in your current job either because the work is too easy or too low-level and you have greater ambition, then it’s time to start looking for a position that will allow you to grow and develop.
4. When you have become too comfortable and complacent, do a reality check. Are you staying in a job simply because it seems easier to stay put rather than try something new? Do you feel like you are in a rut but it seems too daunting to put yourself out on the job market?
These are signs that it’s time to move on.
Mary Luttrel in a quote on perseverance says, “In times of hardship, the critical task of a leader is often reduced to the most basic level; to simply keep going.”
I’m throwing both sides to you this morning. Is it time to quit or is it time to dig in your heels and say, “I’m going to keep going on”? Sometimes we need a little outside push to be able to do something like that.
I came across this story: Walking down the road one day, a turtle fell into a pothole in the center of a country road. He spun his little legs but could not free himself. A rabbit came hopping along and offered assistance. But no matter what they tried, the turtle remained stuck in the muddy hole. “It’s no use,” the turtle said, “There’s no hope for me.” Various other animal friends passed his way but the turtle refused their help believing his destiny was sealed in the muck of the hole in which he had fallen. He sighed, “It’s hopeless!” and then pulled his head inside his shell. Then he heard a rumble and peeping from his shell, he spotted a tractor heading straight for the pothole in which he sat. Without another thought, he scrambled out of the hole and across the road for safety. Later that day, some of his animal friends saw him and asked, “Hey, how did you get free? We thought you couldn’t get out of the pothole.” The turtle replied, “Oh, I couldn’t, but then I had to.”
Are you in a pothole this morning in your life? Are you saying that I can’t? Maybe it’s time to look around and see whether there are things heading your way that make you say, “I have to.” Either you’ve got to quit; take a stand and leave something because you know it’s something that you’ve got to do, or you need to take a stand and say “I’m going to press on.” Either way, the right thing to do at this point is not to roll up and say, “Well, this is the way life is stacked up against me.” The thing to do is to be decisive.
For me, one of the most assuring things as I look at decision making in my life is to know that I can turn to God who knows more than I know about the situation. And in His Holy Book that He has given us, He says, “I am the Lord, your God, who teaches you what is best for you; who directs you in the way you should go.” (Isaiah 48:17)
(Isaiah 30:21) “And at your back, when you are turning to your right hand or your left hand, a voice will be sounding in your ears, saying, ‘This is the way in which you are to go’.”
I wonder today whether you need to hear that voice. If you do, ask Him. He is just a prayer away from you. But it is time to decide. It’s time to get out of that pothole and say, “I am going to do this because it is right.”
God Bless You All.
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