Wes Bucey
Prophet of Profit
The rest of your life starts today! So what are you doing to make it the life you want? Do you need a new job? Do you want better pay and conditions on the job you do have? Do you need friends, lovers, or just somebody to acknowledge you exist?
It's been my observation a lot of folks shortchange themselves in their lives and careers simply through inertia. Inertia is nothing new and most of us go through bouts of inertia from time to time where it's just easier somehow to stick to the status quo, regardless of how much pain we endure. It's not fear not ignorance, not incompetence, it's just inertia.
There are literally thousands of self-labeled "life coaches" and "Dr. Feelgoods" around who claim to help you live that better life through their coaching or their chemicals (for a fee.) I don't claim to be a life coach and I certainly don't offer to help you live a better life through chemistry. The best part, though, is I don't charge a fee.
Start with facts: You are not sick or damaged if you have inertia in your life and/or career, you're just marching in place, a kind of limbo that can last mere hours or days up to tens of years. Most of us move in and out of limbo periodically. When the limbo lasts months or years, some folks like to label it "depression," but depression isn't really an accurate diagnosis unless you meet many of the symptoms listed in the excerpt below
Actually, unless we recognize we are just marking time in limbo, it's not a bad place - we have routines, we are competent at the jobs we do perform, perhaps even excellent at them. We can enjoy entertaining activities and often can be the life of a party. The situation is similar to the one we discuss about organizations frequently: there is no plan or activity toward continual improvement.
Well, what have I been rambling on about?
Often inertia needs a kick start from an outsider for us to recognize we've been in some sort of limbo for days, weeks, months, years. Recently, while going through one of my own bouts of inertia, I realized one of the students in the class I teach on story writing and storyteling had actually written a book-length manuscript for a personal memoir and was actively shopping it to several publishers. As I read through the manuscript, I was pleased to note the vast improvement in his writing from his first days in my class (maybe at least some of it was what I had helped him learn.)
I realized, though, he probably had less free time than I and yet had broken through his inertia to take time to work on his memoir each day until it was complete.
Upon reflection that night after skimming through his book, I realized I wasn't embarrassed or sad or envious about a student doing what I had helped him prepare to do. I wasn't motivated to begin writing my own "great American novel." What I did resolve to do was move out of my rut by accepting more presentation and consultation opportunities and doing more active fundraising for some institutions and causes I support. I had slipped into a routine of doing the same things week after week and being content without working toward what an old acquaintance, Dale Dauten, the Corporate Curmudgeon, calls WOMP (Word Of Mouth Potential.)
AS I INTERPRET WOMP, it's not enough that folks nod and say "Good job!" when you perform an activity [or provide a product], you want them to actively go out and tell someone else who didn't see you perform or use your product that you did a "Good job!" Deming bade us delight our customers. Somehow, I lost sight of that in my inertia.
So, if you recognize inertia in yourself, remember first that it isn't a bad thing, it's just a sort of limbo. There's no reason to beat yourself up, just resolve to break through the inertia and do something you, yourself, can label "improvement" from your status quo. With a little effort and a lot of luck, we might actually achieve "continual improvement" in our lives and go on to please and delight the people in our lives who matter to us and maybe, just maybe, pick up a little WOMP along the way.
CAUTION: If you do have a number of the depression symptoms listed above, please find a way to get a definitive diagnosis and treatment from a qualified health practitioner.
It's been my observation a lot of folks shortchange themselves in their lives and careers simply through inertia. Inertia is nothing new and most of us go through bouts of inertia from time to time where it's just easier somehow to stick to the status quo, regardless of how much pain we endure. It's not fear not ignorance, not incompetence, it's just inertia.
There are literally thousands of self-labeled "life coaches" and "Dr. Feelgoods" around who claim to help you live that better life through their coaching or their chemicals (for a fee.) I don't claim to be a life coach and I certainly don't offer to help you live a better life through chemistry. The best part, though, is I don't charge a fee.
Start with facts: You are not sick or damaged if you have inertia in your life and/or career, you're just marching in place, a kind of limbo that can last mere hours or days up to tens of years. Most of us move in and out of limbo periodically. When the limbo lasts months or years, some folks like to label it "depression," but depression isn't really an accurate diagnosis unless you meet many of the symptoms listed in the excerpt below
Actually, unless we recognize we are just marking time in limbo, it's not a bad place - we have routines, we are competent at the jobs we do perform, perhaps even excellent at them. We can enjoy entertaining activities and often can be the life of a party. The situation is similar to the one we discuss about organizations frequently: there is no plan or activity toward continual improvement.
Well, what have I been rambling on about?
Often inertia needs a kick start from an outsider for us to recognize we've been in some sort of limbo for days, weeks, months, years. Recently, while going through one of my own bouts of inertia, I realized one of the students in the class I teach on story writing and storyteling had actually written a book-length manuscript for a personal memoir and was actively shopping it to several publishers. As I read through the manuscript, I was pleased to note the vast improvement in his writing from his first days in my class (maybe at least some of it was what I had helped him learn.)
I realized, though, he probably had less free time than I and yet had broken through his inertia to take time to work on his memoir each day until it was complete.
Upon reflection that night after skimming through his book, I realized I wasn't embarrassed or sad or envious about a student doing what I had helped him prepare to do. I wasn't motivated to begin writing my own "great American novel." What I did resolve to do was move out of my rut by accepting more presentation and consultation opportunities and doing more active fundraising for some institutions and causes I support. I had slipped into a routine of doing the same things week after week and being content without working toward what an old acquaintance, Dale Dauten, the Corporate Curmudgeon, calls WOMP (Word Of Mouth Potential.)
AS I INTERPRET WOMP, it's not enough that folks nod and say "Good job!" when you perform an activity [or provide a product], you want them to actively go out and tell someone else who didn't see you perform or use your product that you did a "Good job!" Deming bade us delight our customers. Somehow, I lost sight of that in my inertia.
So, if you recognize inertia in yourself, remember first that it isn't a bad thing, it's just a sort of limbo. There's no reason to beat yourself up, just resolve to break through the inertia and do something you, yourself, can label "improvement" from your status quo. With a little effort and a lot of luck, we might actually achieve "continual improvement" in our lives and go on to please and delight the people in our lives who matter to us and maybe, just maybe, pick up a little WOMP along the way.
CAUTION: If you do have a number of the depression symptoms listed above, please find a way to get a definitive diagnosis and treatment from a qualified health practitioner.
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