I took two of my three children to lunch today. As we were greeted at the desk, I asked the young man, “How are you today?” He replied, “Living the dream.” But it was clear from the look on his face and his tone of voice that he was anything but living the dream.
That attitude is a mistake. And I’m not talking about the impact of that remark on the customer experience, that goes without saying.
The snarky, living the dream, attitude betrays a mindset. It suggests that what you’re doing isn’t what you want to be doing. It suggests that you would rather be somewhere else. When it’s applied to your work that suggests that you believe that what you’re doing isn’t valuable, that there is no honor in it, and that you can’t make a difference. It’s the mindset of cynicism, of mediocrity, of indifference.
This mindset will ruin your results and ensure that you don’t ever “live your dream.”
The words that come out of your mouth betray your attitude. Your attitude betrays your beliefs. Your beliefs betray your actions. And your actions become your results. You are always brainwashing yourself, and you are far better off brainwashing yourself with something positive.
If you are not living your dream, I can tell you what the one thing standing between you and that dream is: your lack of resourcefulness.
It may take you weeks, months, years, or decades to get there. But you won’t get there without the mindset that everything you do is moving you closer to that dream. There isn’t any reason not to adopt that mindset, and there isn’t any reason not to bring your very best self to every endeavor.
Be careful what you repeat to yourself (and others) over and over again. When said with emotion, even the emotion of snark, it eventually becomes true.
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