- Elizabeth Smith
I feel very FORTUNATE. Yesterday, as I was going to eat with Nancy at Jason's Deli, I saw an old friend of mine - Dr. Jason Wolf. Jason was President of the Nashville Area Junior Chamber of Commerce when I joined. Unknowingly, he is one of the most SIGNIFICANT people in my life. Let me share with you why.
In 2003, as a new member of the Nashville Junior Chamber, my REPUTATION was that of a "loud mouth." I was VERY good at PROVIDING my opinion, ideas and critiques regarding our group... accompanied with very little SUBSTANCE on "how" to EXECUTE any of my ideas. I was "ALL TALK - NO ACTION."
One day, as I approached (President) Jason Wolf (yet again), with one of my ideas (again), he stopped and said, "Zach, what are you going to do about it?!" I was FLOORED. It was the first time someone had called me out on the ACTION to follow the idea. Commonly, people say, "oh ok, thanks. I'll think about it", which is followed by them taking the SAME actions you will... NONE. This time, however, I was DIRECTLY challenged to action. He asked again and again, "so, what are you going to do about it?"
Finally, as I grew overly FRUSTRATED, I said, "I'm just going to go start it and see where it goes!" He got his way... and led me on the path to mine. This was the day that I REALIZED that my ACTIONS would have to be my reputation, not my ideas. It is great to have GRANDIOSE ideas... yet better to have effective SOLUTIONS. My lesson learned: Even if you take a step in the WRONG direction - at least it's a step (which is more than most others).
Thank you Jason... learning this changed my life!
2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:
When people say, "I know what I want to do, but I don't know where to start," the BEST direction you can provide is: "just start anywhere, you will find your direction much easier that way."
Think about it. How many times have you started a project with no idea how to do it? What did you do? You just started doing the smallest part you UNDERSTOOD. What happened next? You began to more CLEARLY see what the next steps were. Eventually, you found the end goal you were seeking and LEARNED a lot along the way.
The MOST important piece to a puzzle is NOT "how" to do it... it is the WILLINGNESS to learn through action. If you already KNEW the answer, why ask the question? It's the ACTIONS you take to achieve your goals that create your REPUTATION as a DYNAMIC, CREATIVE, PROBLEM SOLVING professional. Just get started... you WILL find the way!
Cheers,
Zach
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