Every Single One of Us Is a Work in Progress

For those who never have faced the death of their business or stared death in the face, I offer this advice: learn from those who have. I have experienced both and survived.

As a survivor, educator, philanthropist, author, wife and mother, my teaching is simple: “Attitude is not about what happened to you but, rather, how you respond to what happened.”

I teach people to have a plan in place before we face attack. As we all know, tragedy eventually will come into our lives in one form or another, so why not be prepared with an attitude of survival. My goal is for people to learn from my life to be able to take charge of theirs.

It does not matter if we are 30 or 65; we all have the ability to learn from others. As we get older, we may realize that we have more wisdom. If we have so much wisdom, then we certainly should discern the need for mentoring. Whether we choose a mentor or actually become one, the rule remains the same; self-examination.

Take some time to sit down and write your obituary. How will it read? How about your eulogy? What will be said about you? If you adjust your life accordingly so you can become the person “of your dreams,” how then, do you envision your life?
Write a plan on how to achieve the necessary changes in your life. We are all a work in progress. I have yet to meet the nonagenarian who is not excited about life and learning.

This exercise is true in you business life. Careers force us to take on many challenges, changes and dilemmas. Often times, things seem out of control. Consider the obituary exercise before determining business goals and action plans for improvement. Mission statements are good, and five-year plans are an industry standard. Nevertheless, I have learned in my business experience that ewe cannot accept the ordinary mindset to simply teach the empowerment of others and aspire to our mission statements. Rather, we must look at things emotionally and motivate ourselves to hew heights (become emotionally fueled, if you will). Then, and only then, will we begin to see immediate changes and be able to move ahead. Remember, change is never easy.

For those of you who have recently started a business or find yourself in a new, demanding position in your career, this exercise along with selecting a proper mentor, will benefit you greatly. The proper mentor should be someone who not only is good at the business aspect of life but also is passionate about life in general. These are the people who constantly look upward – planning exactly who they want to be and how they expect to rise to the occasion. They are going places an are in control of their destiny.

Those who fight the daily routine and fee beaten down, discouraged or just plain bored and burned out need to undertake a new exciting outlook.

Give it a shot. See what it feels like to be enthused and uplifted!

The former owner of a regional temporary personnel business, Deborah Copeland of Charleston is author of a new self-help book, “Attitude Therapy.”