Reflection - aka Carl’s getting old

So… it’s 10 days until I exit my 20’s. Scary, huh? Well - maybe not for you. I was enjoying a gorgeous morning drive into the office today around 6:15ish and started thinking about all the things I “live” by at work. I thought I’d do a little brain dump… these work for me and are just little things that I picked up from my (short) life of almost 9 yrs in IT and 8 yrs in some sort of mgmt. Your mileage may vary.

• Work hard - play hard. You won’t survive without… you won’t make it far with just one of those.
• Chill! Stress is contagious. If you’re a lunatic then everyone else will think the world is ending, too. If the world really is ending - stressing out won’t fix it! Go to the beach.
• Tackle challenges. I promise - they won’t go away if you ignore them Although, if they could… wow, nice.
• Take risks. So very seldom do you take a risk that you can’t recover from. Additionally, be prepared for both success and failure.
• Have a backup and backout plan. See above.
• Have fun! Sheesh. It’s not like you work at IBM or in medical billing. (if you do… then call me - we’re hiring!)
• You will never be an expert. It’s true. You’ll never know everything. Someone always knows more. But… you should always try to challenge them and work at surpassing ‘em!
• Be modest. Come on - honestly - when was the last time that you did something without assistance… give credit where credit is due and know that your success is often achieved with your team.
• Know when you can’t do it all. aka: Know when you can’t be a hat rack. (this one is really hard) Call in reinforcements - stop being a jack of all trades - build a team - outsource (yeah, I said it!) - delegate - etc…
• There is never a right time to do things. Ugh JFDI. It’s like buying a computer. Just do it - you’ll never hit that perfect sale… I guarantee that within a month of buying it it’ll be cheaper-bigger-better-faster.
• Build an awesome library. Read & research! Take a little from each one, however, don’t be one of those people that only has knowledge from books and always quotes The One Minute SomethingOrOther or Chicken Soup For The Manager Soul or whatever… Try some of it out! Find what works for you.

So if you’ve made it this far then you get some candy. You’ll need it due to boredom and exhaustion from trying to interpret my ramblings I’m officially stepping off my soapbox and will stop being “deep”. Well, for now. I’m sure I missed something

Oh ya - btw - 8 days til vacation. Sigh.