The Airport Urinal Provides a Professional Development Lesson

So I’m standing at the urinal in the Long Beach Airport.

(I know. Not exactly “It was the best of times” or “Call me Ishmael” but stick with me.) Behind me I hear a clanging sound and

I assume it’s a janitor with a mop but as I finish my business I turn to see a man in his late 60’s with a white cane trying to open the cleaning closet as he asks boldly…

It was then that I realized what was going on and I told him…

and I began giving him verbal instructions to guid him to the urinals.

But that just seemed weird…and inefficient…and impersonal.

Because he was struggling to use his cane and carry his luggage I approached him, placed my hand on his shoulder, and guided him to the first open urinal, turned and walked away.

Humbled…by 20-second encounter.

This man had no shame, no frustration, no anger, yet he couldn’t easily go to the restroom on his own.

Meanwhile we need a day off if our latte doesn’t have a smiley face in the foam.

(And don’t get me started about the whole “buy-their-coffee-at-Starbucks-pay-it-forward-to-make-you-feel-better-as-you-post-on-Facebook” craze. If someone can afford to pay $5 for a $0.95 cup of coffee they’re doing just fine. Maybe give that $5 to the next homeless person you see or buy them a cup of coffee or ask the barista what the next person’s tab is…and give it as a tip to them since they probably can’t afford to buy the drinks they make for you. But I digress. “You do you,” as the “woke” people say. Now where was I?)

The things you and I take for granted are astonishing.

I’m ashamed at the excuses I’ve made today, this week, this month, this year, this lifetime.

You should be, too.

You and I have it good, even if we’re going through a tough patch.

So put your head down, peg the pedal to the metal, and get through it.

If you need help putting the pedal to the metal, apply for my 90-day private coaching.

It’s reassuringly expensive.

It includes membership in Private Sales Training and Support Community, so you’ll get private assistance and semi-private assistance dang-near 24/7.

But only join if you’re tired of being ashamed of where you are and you’re ready to get a little expert guidance for a short, intensive amount of time so you can finally flush your excuses down the drain. (See what I did there?)

Now go flush something.

(Ha. I did it again. Did you notice? You did. I know you did. You know how I know? Because you’re smart enough and patient enough to read to this far, and smart people understand one another, and we appreciate one another because common sense is so dang un-common. We’re like intellectual islands in a sea of muddle-through morons…who seem to want to connect and “get to know” us on LinkedIn. But I digress…)

Happy Thanksgiving.

-Wes

P.S. A “friend” on Facebook had this to say about my story this week:

Talk about a Negative Nellie.

Notice how anything that comes after “but” or “however” totally negates what came before it? Don’t be that “but-head” with your relatives this week at Thanksgiving…or today online…or Monday at work…or ever for that matter.

And if you do feel compelled to “teach them a lesson,” make sure you’re 100% right.

You see, Negative Nellie missed the point where I explained how that gentleman was struggling with his luggage and his cane so he didn’t have a free hand.

And he had already roamed around the restroom for a bit. And I assumed he wanted to go make pee-pee-potty sooner rather than later.

Maybe I could’ve offered to take his luggage or his cane and lead him with my elbow or shoulder.

Maybe I could’ve just vectored him in audibly with

Maybe I could’ve just ignored him or pulled out my phone and recorded him while mocking him.

Maybe I could’ve tripped him while recording and mocking him.

Or I could’ve just taken action and helped the best way I knew how, like I did.

Your mistakes are not why you haven’t achieved your goals this year…or 2017…or all the way back to 2009. (You know, once the easy-money went away in the 2008 collapse?)

It’s your distraction inaction.

It’s your fear of lie-awake-mistakes.

It’s your muddled mind cluttered with cliques and click-bait.

It’s your information inebriation, which has lead to your stuckification.

It’s your wasted time lost on taking offense (you’re allowed to leave the offense right where it is, ya know?

Some of you take offense like it’s the last Cabbage Patch doll on the shelf on Christmas Eve!) like dear, sweet Negative Nellie, and offering free advice that nobody asked for, fewer people want, and you don’t fully understand yourself.

Succeeding in sales is easy when you know how to succeed in life.

And you can keep your head down and get the scars as you figure it all out on your own, or you can invest in shortening the learning curve by 10 or 20 years.

It’s your choice.

And choosing to think about it or wait until after Thanksgiving or Christmas or the New Year or President’s Day or Valentine’s Day or St. Patrick’s Day or your tax return or Memorial Day or Father’s Day or Independence Day or Labor Day or Halloween…we’ll be right back in November, except we’ll both be a year older, and you’ll be…?