We spend our days working toward something, trying to be successful, trying to make a difference, achieving something bigger, greater than ourselves. Maybe that is too great of an assumption. Of course, not everyone is working toward greatness. Many give up, many assume they cannot achieve it, and many are stunted by lack of leadership. Those who need a nudge are not always in the right place at the right time to receive it from the right person. I suppose I am one of the lucky ones.
For most of my work life, I have been led by leaders that were good at what they did and enjoyed their work. And when they no longer enjoyed it, they changed it up and tried something new, something different. I was a young high school graduate – only seventeen years old. And when I was just eighteen, I finished a certificated dental assisting program at Indiana University. It was grueling. Seriously; not kidding. Forty hours a week for three semesters that included such hits as Oral Anatomy, Oral Pathology, Radiography, Behavioral Science, Dental Therapeutics and Emergency Medicine, the list goes on. It was tough and I worked hard. But by the time I was nineteen, I had jumped in, feet first, and joined the adult world of working forty hours a week and paying bills.
I bought a car from my parents and had my own land phone (way pre-cell phone.) I purchased independent health and life insurance; those benefits are rarely provided by dentists to their employees. I think the only thing I didn’t pay for myself was car insurance; luckily, my parents kept me on the policy because it was the most affordable option and I was very thankful. The first dentist I worked for was very good at what he did, but he didn’t like it much. He only became a dentist to pay the bills but he was extremely smart and he managed his practice well; selling it and leaving the field completely after twenty-five years. When he retired? He became a substitute teacher at the local junior high and coached after school sports – basketball. He went from making an extremely good living to barely making minimum wage and he loved it. He had found his one thing.
I have written before about finding your one thing – the thing that gets you up in the morning, that gets your motor running, that motivates you, that floats your boat. My one thing is just doing it better – everything. It’s not that I want to be perfect for that is impossible, I just think I can always do better, find the better way, be smarter about it, figure out a different plan, be strategic about it all. That is my one thing. What is yours? Have the leaders in your life, in your career been clear about their one thing? Have you followed the right leaders for you? It is easy to get caught up in following someone that is very charismatic or who has power and authority or money. But do those attributes make a good leader? Yes, for some, no, for others.
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I look back at the first dentist I worked for and think of the impressionable eighteen year old I was when he hired me. I learned a lot about running a small business, about ethics, and choices. The work was just a job for me too, but the path I was on became the road to my career and the first of many lessons. Perseverance and patience, study and continually learn while you mark your time, if you don’t love your work then add something to your life that you can love (my dentist loved bass fishing) and keep goals- not just have them but keep them. And, of course, find your one thing.
© by rayannethorn
