Which statement holds more meaning to you?

Have you ever heard the phrase, “There is no substitute for hard work”?

I will always remember when I first got promoted and had a staff to manage. I was so naïve that and thought because we were in a tough employment market, that people would work HARD to keep their jobs. Boy was I mistaken. People were truly content to get by with as little work as possible. They weren’t concerned about keeping to their work schedule or making the most of their time while at work. They really showed no motivation to even want to keep their job yet ever act in such a way to want to advance in the company or learn a skill that may benefit them in the future.

This type of work ethic (or lack of ethic) went against the way I was raised to conduct myself. My parents taught me to do the best you can, focus hard the task at hand and always perform at a high level so as to advance in a company and secure your position.

You have probably heard, the saying (or a version of) “experience is the greatest teacher”. I heard John Maxwell, a great leader and speaker, say in one of his lessons this is NOT a true or valid statement. If experience was the greatest teacher and taught people the most, than as people aged they would be better and better. We all know that is now the case. People in the 40’s, 50’s and beyond can be just as unproductive and out of sorts as they were when they were younger. They can sometimes even be worse, because they slipped into bad habits and they fine tuned them along the way.

Evaluated experience is the key! Evaluate each of the experiences of your life and determine what went well so you can it again. Also evaluate what went wrong and how you can change or do it better next time. By evaluating your experiences and decisions along the way you will be along the path from Good to Great.