Quote of the Week on Problems

Hope you had a wonderful Father’s Day.  Celebrating…appreciating…perhaps by sharing stories about lessons learned from your dad, step-dad, granddad and others who have been like a dad to you.    This week’s quote comes from a lesson from my Dad – one I have shared far and wide with clients and readers.  And one I have re-visited often as I have a way of getting myself into jams.

Here’s the story behind the quote.  In November of 1995, there was a lot going on for me – personally and professionally. I can’t remember exactly what I said to Dad on the phone one night but a few days later, an envelope came in the mail. In it was a page from Better Homes and Gardens magazine, folded three times to show an article that took up 1/6 of the page – snippets put together by Burton Hillis. There was a yellow sticky note on it with a simple message that read, “Thought this might help. Love, Dad”.

He had drawn an arrow pointing to the last paragraph. Here is the article:

Rosemary called from school a couple of weeks ago, grumpy and tired. Exams were piling up and the manager at her part-time job wanted her to work more hours. On top of that, her field hockey team was practicing daily for a tournament.

I wanted to reach through the phone line, give Rosemary a hug, and reassure her all would be OK. Instead, I told her what I do when my plate is full.

Whenever I have too many jobs to tackle, I line them up in some kind of order and knock them off one at a time. Before I know it, the last one is behind me,” I said.

A few days ago she called to say exams were over, not with perfect scores, but good enough. Her manager is letting her work extra hours on weekends, and her team made it to the finals. Rosemary thanked me for the advice, but I told her she deserved the credit. She had learned another life lesson: Problems, like the hill in front of you, keep getting smaller the more you advance on them.

The content of this article was of course very helpful. Even more meaningful was the fact that my Dad saw it, thought of me and sent it. A gentle gesture of support.  And certainly a boost to morale and productivity.  Not just for me but for many.  And not just then but for years and years.

For more lessons from many different Dads, see 10 Lessons from Dads.

Use this week’s quote as background or wallpaper for your computer with just three clicks.

1. Click on the image above.

2. Right click on the image that appears.

3. On the pull down menu that appears, click on “set as background”.

Voila! There’s still plenty of room on the left side of the screen for all your shortcut icons.

Note: If you don’t like your new wallpaper, don’t want to replace it with a quote from the Business Class Quote Library and don’t know how to get rid of it……

Go to your control panel. Select “Display”. Select “Desktop”. And then choose from the designs offered.”

Or print the PDF version below. Just click on the printer icon in lower right corner of the image.

Problems? Trythis link.

There are 153 additional quotes in our Quote Library.

Valuable business tools, ready to post, print and share – available for free right here in our Quote Library.

Don’t have access to the library yet? Get your password here.One last story – an important one because so many of us get so overwhelmed so often.

 

 

Sign up here to get our Leadership Quote of the Week – delivered to your email box each Monday before 8:00 A.M. Eastern Standard Time.

One last note: In addition to bite-size bits for daily learning and reinforcement, we also offer on-site workshops and individual coaching, all tailored to the needs of the individual or organization. Contact Jan to discuss your needs: Jan@BusinessClassInc.com

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