Do you want to be “extraordinary”? It’s not as hard as you think.
Just for reference, I live in a middle-class suburb of a large city in the Midwest. No spectacular upbringing or trust funds heading my way. But I do consider myself extraordinary. I feel like the things I set my mind to do and be good at, I do better than most. This in-turn propels me to even more extraordinary measures in a self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts.
I don’t consider myself a narcissist (I have a ton of things to work on personally, just trust me on that) or arrogant (I more often get the label “blunt as a spoon” which I can’t argue. It’s a family trait that I was blessed to inherit), but a smart guy I know made me realize how easy it is to be just A LITTLE better than the crowd and therefore stand out and be recognized.
Until I came into a leadership role at work, I didn’t realize how difficult is was to get basic laborers into my shop to perform very easy tasks. A decent wages with full benefits and a VERY good chance of rising up the ranks quickly were given. If they were able to perform and show up, they were on the fast-track! I should have people out there beating my door down and bending over backwards to impress me enough to get a spot, right?!
I had to deal with turn-over, folks not showing up when scheduled, general disregard for the work place and just a freaking shortage of qualified candidates (I use the term “qulaified” extremely loosely. You essentially had to be able to read, stand, have most of your fingers and not fight people)
With the “bad-economy” and people complaining about finding good jobs (Just a reference, but the U.S. economy has pretty much been on a tear since 2012. That was almost 4 years ago as of the writing of this post) I figured my search for people would be much different. What I found out is that the people that are extraordinary are already working and don’t plan to leave any time soon.
You may think that you need to come into work 2 hours early and stay late to be extraordinary. Trust me, if you come in every day and simply don’t miss scheduled unless dying, you’ll be extraordinary.
You may think you need to create a network of friends and support at work to be extraordinary. If you simply get along with 90% of people and tolerate 10% to point that you can function around them, you’ll be extraordinary.
You may think you need 2 Masters Degrees or 15 years of experience to be extraordinary. Trust me, if you finish ANY 4 year degree program at ANY college or University that isn’t a for profit shithouse, then you are extraordinary.
The list goes on. Chances are, if you’re reading this and are taking the time to improve yourself, you are EXTRAORDINARY!
Please don’t beat yourself because you think you “normal” and will always be. The bar is really low out there for people that actually care about improving themselves. Trust that you are better and you will be better.
Take your small successes, realize them and use them to catapult your dreams and goals to new heights.
Have a great fucking day : )
Yeah, That's Nice 