Written by John Safin
Every conscious task
takes initiative. Getting out of bed, getting dressed, walking, and
simply sleeping or relaxing requires ambition to go into action. Sitting
to the sofa without any external stimulation, such as reading or
listening to music, requires you to sit down (action) and do nothing.
Doing “nothing” for some people, truly, is a strenuous act.
Every conscious task
takes effort. Getting out of bed, getting dressed, walking, and simply
sleeping or relaxing requires an expenditure of energy. Sitting on the
sofa without any external stimulation, such as reading or listening to
music, would need an extremely low amount of exertion. The most
difficult aspect, for some people, might simply be the effort to stay
awake once you’re relaxed.
Add initiative and
effort together and the result is opportunity. For example: You’re in
bed and the alarm clock signals it’s time to start the day. What happens
next?
Scenario 1
– You CHOOSE NOT to get out of bed (lack of initiative) and you
DON’T MOVE out of bed (lack of effort), which could make you late
for work or getting the kids ready for school (missed opportunity).
Scenario 2
– You CHOOSE to get out of bed (positive initiative) and you DON’T
MOVE out of bed (lack of effort), which could make you late for work
or getting the kids ready for school (missed opportunity).
Scenario 3
– You CHOOSE to get out of bed (positive initiative) and you MOVE
your feet over the mattress’ edge to the floor (positive effort),
which means you can be on time for work and your kids will have a
better chance of being ready for school (opportunity).
You might have noticed
a missing combination: Lack of initiative with positive effort. In this
example, there is no effort without initiative and initiative without
effort has no value. Ever hear someone complain they had the same idea
for the latest hot product and they’re not making the money selling it?
He or she put effort into creating the product idea and didn’t have the
initiative to do anything with the idea.
A situation when there
is a lack of initiative along with positive effort that results in
opportunity would be obeying the procedures of an established system.
Weekly trash collection at your house would be one example. The garbage
truck arrives in your neighborhood on your street at a set day on a
routine basis. The sanitation department determined when you would need
to have your trashcan to the curb and told you the type of container to
use, if they didn’t provide a standard trashcan. You might have been
instructed to wait until the night before or the morning of trash
collection day. When you follow the established system, your garbage is
removed. Yes, you are taking initiative and effort to bring the garbage
to the curb, but did you decide to use a specific container for your
garbage? Was your ambition at a high enough level to get the trash out
of your house three days before pickup? When you’re a day late bringing
the trash to the curb, is it removed quickly or will it remain rotting
in place until the following week? You are doing the effort and someone
else took the initiative to tell you what to do. A clean house is the
resulting opportunity.
People who frequent
coffee shops will appreciate this: The baristas instructed you on their
coffee-making jargon…because only Italians would use the word “venti” in
normal conversation. They taught you the sequence of ordering a
specialty coffee because, Lord have mercy on your soul, when you tell
them to use whole milk before you tell them it’s a hot drink. When you
order an exotic coffee, the effort is on you to get the order correct.
Now, you have the opportunity to enjoy a freshly made cup of java.
Why is opportunity the
result of initiative plus effort and not something more? Opportunity
represents the prospect to achieve your goals, accomplish your dreams,
or do whatever is important to you. Remember, the result of initiative
and effort is only a prospect and not a guarantee; a chance to
accomplish whatever motivates your life. The resulting opportunity might
be success or failure. Refer back to the earlier examples: There isn’t a
guarantee of getting out of bed, since it’s possible to get a leg
twisted in the sheets and fall. There isn’t a guarantee of having
garbage picked up, since the truck could have mechanical trouble. Using
sound judgment along with initiative and effort will improve the chance
for a desired outcome.
Another way to ensure
you get a “good” opportunity is to be dedicated to your initiatives and
efforts. Initiative requires a commitment to complete each necessary
step (effort) to reach the end goal. The level of dedication for getting
out of bed, no matter how tired you are, is low compared to the
dedicated training necessary for a person to run a 4-minute mile.
The avid runner is a
good demonstration as to how initiative and effort combined with
dedication creates an opportunity. The opportunity, in this instance, is
for the runner to have a more efficient cardiovascular system, a leaner
body, strong leg muscles, and the ability to run farther than most
people. Of the people you know - family, friends, and business
associates - the number of marathon runners you personally know can be
counted on one hand, and that uniqueness is another opportunity for the
runner.
Because if everything
was easy to do, then everyone would be doing it.
The concept applies to
professional and personal situations. The company taking the initiative
and effort to provide the best product or service on every transaction
for each customer (dedication) will find opportunity in the form of
repeat sales and new customers. Mediocre product and average service
will result in an average opportunity. Do you want your business to be
unique like the marathon runner or like everyone else? Incidentally,
“best” is a relative term and it will be your customers who determine
the definition. This is the purpose for conducting customer satisfaction
surveys on a periodic basis. Oh…wait…that means a business owner would
have to take the initiative to ask customers about their experience, to
make an effort to react to the comments thereby gaining the opportunity
to show customers that they are really important. Amazing how some
situations come full circle.
The same principle
would be useful in home life. Anyone with children knows the challenges
parents face in today’s world. Set aside a specific day and time at
least once a week for you and your children, either individually or as a
group, and show them something new, fun or both. By taking this
initiative and effort on a regular schedule (dedication), your children
will become more self-confident, become better decision makers, and
develop a greater appreciation for everything you do – their
opportunity. You will have the opportunity to share your sense of values
without lecturing, become a reliable resource for future problems they
might have, and have satisfaction in the future by appreciating all the
time you spent with your kids.
Opportunity is the
result of combining initiative and effort with dedication. Is your
business creating customer opportunities? Are you missing opportunities
lounging in front of the television every night? Being average is to
stay the same, to do nothing, and that doesn’t require initiative,
effort or dedication. Average is easy for a reason. The people who want
to accomplish the difficult tasks are the people who represent the few,
such as the marathon runner.
Dedicate yourself to
your initiative and efforts every day. You might appreciate the results.
# # #
“We choose to go to
the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are
easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to
organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that
challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to
postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too."
- President John
F. Kennedy, September 12, 1962, Rice University Stadium
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