The fear of not ‘starting rightly’ is what keeps many a great man and woman from fulfilling their potential. It is also what robs us of ideas and solutions that could have made the world a better place for you and me. I will say, start; if you fail, start again and improve yourself (and your process) along the way. The tortoise makes no progress unless it juts out its head.
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One act of kindness that befell British writer Bernard Hare in 1982 changed him profoundly. Then a student living just north of London, he tells the story to inspire troubled young people to help deal with their disrupted lives.
The police called at my student hovel early evening, but I didn’t answer as I thought they’d come to evict me. I hadn’t paid my rent in months. But then I got to thinking: my mum hadn’t been too good and what if it was something about her?
We had no phone in the hovel and mobiles hadn’t been invented yet, so I had to nip down the phone box.
I rang home to Leeds to find my mother was in hospital and not expected to survive the night. “Get home, son,” my dad said.
I got to the railway station to find I’d missed the last train. A train was going as far as Peterborough, but I would miss the connecting Leeds train by twenty minutes.
I bought a ticket home and got on anyway. I was a struggling student and didn’t have the money for a taxi the whole way, but I had a screwdriver in my pocket and my bunch of skeleton keys.
I was so desperate to get home that I planned to nick a car in Peterborough, hitchhike, steal some money, something, anything. I just knew from my dad’s tone of voice that my mother was going to die that night and I intended to get home if it killed me.
“Tickets, please,” I heard, as I stared blankly out of the window at the passing darkness. I fumbled for my ticket and gave it to the guard when he approached. He stamped it, but then just stood there looking at me. I’d been crying, had red eyes and must have looked a fright.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Course I’m okay,” I said. “Why wouldn’t I be? And what’s it got to do with you in any case?”
“You look awful,” he said. “Is there anything I can do?”
“You could get lost and mind your own business,” I said. “That’d be a big help.” I wasn’t in the mood for talking.
He was only a little bloke and he must have read the danger signals in my body language and tone of voice, but he sat down opposite me anyway and continued to engage me.
“If there’s a problem, I’m here to help. That’s what I’m paid for.”
I was a big bloke in my prime, so I thought for a second about physically sending him on his way, but somehow it didn’t seem appropriate. He wasn’t really doing much wrong. I was going through all the stages of grief at once: denial, anger, guilt, withdrawal, everything but acceptance. I was a bubbling cauldron of emotion and he had placed himself in my line of fire.
The only other thing I could think of to get rid of him was to tell him my story.
“Look, my mum’s in hospital, dying, she won’t survive the night, I’m going to miss the connection to Leeds at Peterborough, I’m not sure how I’m going to get home.
“It’s tonight or never, I won’t get another chance, I’m a bit upset, I don’t really feel like talking, I’d be grateful if you’d leave me alone. Okay?”
“Okay,” he said, finally getting up. “Sorry to hear that, son. I’ll leave you alone then. Hope you make it home in time.” Then he wandered off down the carriage back the way he came.
I continued to look out of the window at the dark. Ten minutes later, he was back at the side of my table. Oh no, I thought, here we go again. This time I really am going to rag him down the train.
He touched my arm. “Listen, when we get to Peterborough, shoot straight over to Platform One as quick as you like. The Leeds train’ll be there.”
I looked at him dumbfounded. It wasn’t really registering. “Come again,” I said, stupidly. “What do you mean? Is it late, or something?”
“No, it isn’t late,” he said, defensively, as if he really cared whether trains were late or not. “No, I’ve just radioed Peterborough. They’re going to hold the train up for you. As soon as you get on, it goes.
“Everyone will be complaining about how late it is, but let’s not worry about that on this occasion. You’ll get home and that’s the main thing. Good luck and God bless.”
Then he was off down the train again. “Tickets, please. Any more tickets now?”
I suddenly realised what a top-class, fully-fledged ‘doilem’ I was and chased him down the train. I wanted to give him all the money from my wallet, my driver’s licence, my keys, but I knew he would be offended.
I caught him up and grabbed his arm. “Oh, er, I just wanted to…” I was suddenly speechless. “I, erm…”
“It’s okay,” he said. “Not a problem.” He had a warm smile on his face and true compassion in his eyes. He was a good man for its own sake and required nothing in return.
“I wish I had some way to thank you,” I said. “I appreciate what you’ve done.”
“Not a problem,” he said again. “If you feel the need to thank me, the next time you see someone in trouble, you help them out. That will pay me back amply.
“Tell them to pay you back the same way and soon the world will be a better place.”
I was at my mother’s side when she died in the early hours of the morning. Even now, I can’t think of her without remembering the good conductor on that late-night train to Peterborough and, to this day, I won’t hear a bad word said about British Rail.
My meeting with the good conductor changed me from a selfish, potentially violent hedonist into a decent human being, but it took time.
“I’ve paid him back a thousand times since then,” I tell the young people I work with, “and I’ll keep on doing so till the day I die. You don’t owe me nothing. Nothing at all.”
“And if you think you do, I’d give you the same advice the good conductor gave me. Pass it down the line.”
— Author Unknown
Meditation: “But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.” – Luke 6:32-33
You will succeed in Jesus Name!
You might have heard the term shifting the goalpost before. Shifting the goalpost is often used to describe a negative practice when someone reneges on their promises by changing the requirements.
In the world of work, particularly in terms of productivity and performance, shifting the goalpost is something you will have to deal with from time to time. This is because expectations are always being heightened particularly for top performers. That means the 50 you did last month that earned you applause may not be good enough to earn you praise the next month.
Why is that? Because the goalpost would have been shifted and 50 is no longer your best. That means you should be aiming for 60 upwards.
Please let’s keep this in mind as you work and put it to practice in whatever you do in a work setting either for yourself or in an organisation. You are actually your own competition, and you should be aiming to beat your own record at every attempt.
Another side to this is that, as the post is being shifted for the top performers, it also affects the slaggers because they were not even hitting 50 before and will now struggle the more to cope as the bars are further raised for the star performers, thus leading to feelings of frustration and low self-esteem. Whatever you do, ensure that you are not counted among the slaggers.
In the words of Jim Rohn, “Don’t join an easy crowd; you won’t grow. Go where the expectations and the demands to perform are high,” and then see what you become some years down the line as you exert yourself in a high-performing setup.
That is the way things work in the world of commerce. That is why the saying goes that, ‘What got you started may not get you going. What got you here may not get you there.‘ Starting is better than waiting. To keep doing it is better than starting; whilst getting better as you do it is superior to keep doing it.
Jeffie was in his playpen and he was crying. Tears were rolling down his little cheeks; his face was red as it could be. He was crying, and he looked pitiful in his little baseball T-shirt and a diaper.
Then Jeffie’s Grandpa entered the room; Jeffie’s little face lit up when he saw his Grandpa! He immediately reached out his little arms in supplication and said: “Out Pa Pa out.”
What is a Grandpa to do? How can someone resist that?
So Grandpa went over to the playpen, he bent over. He reached down to lift his little buddy from captivity and distress…
Just then “Law and Order” walked into the room.
Momma said, “Jeffie, you stay right there! I’m punishing you because you have been naughty! Dad, leave Jeffie alone!”
What is a Grandpa to do?
Grandpa backs off and is thinking, “I can’t just pick up a book and read it with Jeffie here. He would think I was uncaring and distant. I can’t leave the room because he would feel like I have abandoned him.”
What is a Grandpa to do?
But you know what? Love always finds a way. Since Grandpa couldn’t take Jeffie out of the playpen, Grandpa climbed in with Jeffie!
Grandpa said “If you are in the playpen buddy, I’m in the playpen too. What are you in for? What is your sentence?”
Having Grandpa join him in his “prison cell” brought Jeffie great comfort and joy. In the midst of his captivity, Jeffie no longer felt so alone.
What Jeffie’s Grandpa did is also a picture of what Jesus Christ did for us when He came to Earth as a baby.
God the Father yearned to reach down into our “playpen of captivity” and pull us out. He could not… because of our disobedience… because of our sin. What did God do?
God climbed into our “playpen” with us!
When Jesus Christ entered into our “playpen of captivity,” He took the sin and disobedience that should have been ours alone; releasing us from our captivity… allowing us the opportunity to experience the fullness of life God has for us!
The message is simple, clear and personal: God with us… He loves you so much He sent His one and only Son, Jesus Christ!
— Author Unknown
Meditation: For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have Eternal Life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. – John 3:16-18
You will succeed in Jesus Name!
The Pencil Maker took the pencil aside, just before putting him into the box. “There are five things you need to know” he told the pencil, “before I send you out into the world. Always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best pencil you can be.”
One: You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in Someone’s hand.
Two: You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, but you’ll need it to become a better pencil.
Three: You will be able to correct the mistakes you will make.
Four: The most important part of you will always be what’s inside.
And Five: On every surface you are used on, you must leave your mark. No matter what the condition, you must continue to write.
The pencil understood and promised to remember, and went into the box with purpose in its heart.
Now replacing the place of the pencil with you; always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best person you can be.
One: You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in God’s hand. And allow other human beings to access you for the many gifts you possess.
Two: You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, by going through various problems, but you’ll need it to become a stronger person.
Three: You will be able to correct mistakes you might make or grow through them.
Four: The most important part of you will always be what’s on the inside.
And Five: On every surface you walk, you must leave your mark. No matter what the situation, you must continue to serve God in everything.
By understanding and remembering, let us proceed with our life on this earth having a meaningful purpose in our heart and a relationship with God daily.
— Author Unknown
Meditation: Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. – John 15:4
You will succeed in Jesus Name!
Priority is the mantra of the productive. Prioritisation is their habit.
