A radio consultant buddy, Jim Wood from Nashville, wrote this in January of 2004… It’s still relevant and puts life into perspective
Congratulations! It’s a New Year, a New Month, and New Day. For some, getting back to our careers in the first week in January is especially difficult. After so long away from the desk, both mentally and physically, returning to work the first week after the holidays can be a difficult and unnerving challenge.
Here are a few important things to consider:
First and foremost, this is a new year. You must NOT allow it to be a continuation of 2003. If you are one of the few people who are fine with the way your life is going, then keep going but the majority of us want things to be better in 2004. We want Things at home, things at work, and things in our personal lives to all improve in 2004.
Here is a New Year Reality. Good things rarely just ‘happen’ to people. Good things usually come as result of making good decisions and setting the right priorities. While it is a little cliche, now ‘New Years’ is a good time to take inventory of your life and build a plan to take you through the coming months. There is nothing wrong with setting new and higher goals. It is admirable to make plans to improve your life. We must be prepared that your friends and associates will go out of their way to chide you for developing this ‘New Attitude’ for the New Year but that’s OK, they will be what they will be.
Those of us in broadcasting can easily fall into the same old daily routines and ruts. It is easy to just continue doing what we did last year because it is comfortable and certain things just seem to repeat themselves every day, every week and every year so why not just Go With the Flow.
I say Baloney! I say that we all need to clear out the cob webs, shake off weeks of being mostly brain dead.
Cleanse your system of the many toxic elements that you enjoyed over the holidays and Crank It Up for 2004.
Here are a few things to think about.
You will screw up your whole day if you sign and date everything as 2003 rather than 2004 and everyone will make a huge deal about it. This may not seem ‘That’ important but when you ignite the flames of motivation, it sure throws a wet blanket over everything if you mentally screw up something this simple. Make a point and repeat to everyone that you are going to make every effort to not use the wrong date this week. They may think you are crazy but it the little stuff that makes a difference.
You must make an effort, both mentally and physically to change something in your life. Take an hour clean up your desk or your home and throw something away that is there, taking up space but you can’t remember why. Trash something that you are hanging on to just because you’ve always ‘Done It That Way’ or your old aunt Sally gave it to you many years go and you are afraid she will find out.
Motivational speakers and mental health experts will tell you that you need to make some sort of outward change to kick start your new life.
Mentally, stop dragging old thoughts from 2003 around with you unless they can make 2004 a better year. We all have a tendency to hang on to past failures and mistakes. Screw Them! It’s a New Day.
Dont make New Years Resolutions unless you know you will keep them. (Boy there is a joke. I can think of almost no New Years Resolutions that I actually kept. ‘So I have stopped making them. Instead try making Make New Year Reality Checks. If you need to lose weight, admit it and build a plan that will help you shed the pounds. If you want to stop smoking then design a plan that will help you achieve that goal and start working on it today. If you want to move forward in your career, move to a larger market, get out of the All Night Shift take positive action today. It is imperative while your competition is sleeping at their desk for you to move the game forward. This is a great week to do just that.
In most cases, it is OK to admit that you CAN NOT DO THIS YOURSELF. Here are a few realities that have come to me over the years.
This will be difficult. Usually we want to stop doing a bad habit or having a bad attitude that is negatively impacting our lives. It’s a fact, it is very difficult to change bad habits and it is always hard to accept the fact that we have developed a bad attitude. People do it all the time but it usually seems like an impossible task to change a bad habit especially if you don’t realize it is BAD or you can’t imagine a day without Chocolate. It is even harder to change a bad attitude because first and foremost you have to accept the fact that it is your fault that your attitude is bad.
Be honest with yourself. This fits nicely with NO#1 because we bring most of this negative stuff on ourselves. No one ties you down and forces you to eat peanut butter cookies and while your environment may contribute to your bad attitude, it is still Your attitude and if changing it will improve your life,(And it always does), then accept that fact and move on.
Avoid contact with losers and other negative people.
Hanging out with people who are ‘The cup is Half Empty’ type people and people who have even worse personal habits than yourself will not help you succeed.
In radio, I talk to dozens of people every week and most of them spend the majority of their time whining about ‘How it used to be. Fine. Get over it because it Ain’t that way anymore. If you don’t like the new reality of radio and can’t survive and grow in this environment, then get out. Stop being miserable.
Either make it better or shut up and find a new career.
Find Opportunity in Change. We have all heard the phrase, One Door Closes and Another Door Opens. The reason these are Old well known and well used phrases is because they hold a strong element of truth. While many of us nay not likes parts of the new direction of radio, or the music industry today, we have accepted the reality that it is what it is and we are looking for new and exciting opportunities in the world of broadcasting that will utilize our strengths and talents.
Trust me there are more opportunities right now than there have been for years. Granted they are new ideas and new challenges that will mean that WE have to change our thinking and change the way we do things.
While we sometimes have a tendency to shy away from new concepts that make us break out of our comfort zone, it is a fact that the new leaders of tomorrow embrace this change and welcome it. It will mean personal change but the opportunities are out there!
We are all in this alone. If you are waiting for someone else to take you by the hand to the Promised Land, you’ve got another think coming. The one reality that you must accept is that there are no free rides.
We all have to think about ourselves as a business and we are all Presidents of the company. Regardless of what aspect of the business you are in, you can not rely on someone else pointing you in the direction for success. You have to take charge of your life and make it happen. Remember they are searching to find their own way, they don’t want or need to drag your butt along.
Map A Road Map for Success. Let’s face it, most people are asleep at their desk this week so this is a good chance to spend some time on your plans. You wouldn’t leave on a long trip to another city without a road map and you shouldnt start rebuilding your life and career without a written plan. I know, this can be a major pain in the butt but a written plan can be simple and straight forward or complex and detailed.
Regardless, if you start on your New Year Realities without a written plan they will go the way of the millions of New Year Resolutions that have quietly slipped away in past.
Finally, What is Wrong With Right Now. Make this your new mantra for 2004 and you will be amazed at what you achieve. Most people like to talk about what they are going to do but real leaders stop talking and start acting.
Live by ‘What’s Wrong With Right Now’ and you will see yourself taking action while others are talking. By the way, this one simple idea will drive most of your bosses and associates crazy. For some reason we all like to talk about things, meet about them and then discuss them again. Winners simply grab the ball and run.
The bottom line is that it ‘IS’ a new year, a new month and a new day. The successes and failures of
2004 will depend in part on what we do this month. We can set back and see what happens or we can step up and make things happen. There are in fact, winners and losers, leaders and followers, champions and those who forfeit the game. This is the time for you to have a private talk with yourself and ask what you want to be.
No matter what you decide, it will happen. If you choose to put in the hard work it takes to be a winner, you will be a winner. If you suck it up and make the changes that are placed before you and change the way you play the game, you will be better off at this time next year. If you choose to take the more simple ‘Wait and See’ path, you will be successful at that as well. Next year at this time you will be sitting by yourself wondering what happened to all of us how ‘got lucky’ and moved on. The tough pill is next year, as you face 2005, you will have to ask yourself what you accomplished in 2004 and it will be ‘what it is.’
Personally we are going to attack 2004 with a vengeance. We are going to find new and better ways to succeed in the radio and broadcasting industry. We are going to use our experience and creativity to kick some butt. We are going to find new innovative ways to expand the reach of Urbaninsite.com. Sure we will fail on some ideas and succeed on others.
There leaders of the highly successful Japanese Auto Manufacturers shocked the world when they announced that their success depends on the number of failures that they experience each year. They expect 20 failures for each major success. Each failure teaches them what not to do and eliminates another option. In order to succeed they expect at least 20 failures in the process. Don’t be afraid to fail. Be afraid to not take a chance.
Happy New Year. We are sure it is going to be a great one.
photo credit: Patrick Doheny
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