How a Bunch of Flowers Derailed My Day
image by @laurabriedis on Unsplash
One day last week, I came home to find flowers waiting for me at my front door.
No note. No vase. No one there to tell me what was going on. Just the flowers in their plastic packaging … and it was kind of a lot of them. At least six different bundles. I don't know much about flowers, but some of them were roses. I went to the front office of my building and got some, “Oh, la, la …” teasing from the women in there, but they didn’t know who sent them.
Many questions. No answers.
I had no idea where they came from, and I found myself actually scratching my head as I drank a glass of lemonade. I tried to get back to work but was definitely distracted, so I put the flowers in a makeshift vase kinda thing so they could have some water until the mystery was solved.
I’ve recently gone through a difficult breakup but I tried not to hope there was a connection there. Of course, the more I tried not to think about that, the more I failed. It was a strange and helpless feeling. Similar to that feeling you might take on when someone cuts you off in traffic, I had allowed these flowers to be a part of my life. It was hard to get back to work, and on top of that I felt sorry for myself.
Victimized by flowers of all things!
This week’s fundamental is DELIVER RESULTS. I was definitely having a tough time delivering any results, because I was letting myself be consumed by this ridiculous distraction.
Yes, I had unfinished emotional stuff going on.
Yes, I was resisting doing some difficult work on a new software program I’m overmatched with. And yes, I didn’t want to admit I was letting such a small thing cause such a big distraction. The rest of the day I endured fairly well. At times I even forgot about the flowers, but they were quite lovely, smelled great and were right in front of me.
The next day one of the ladies in the office called to tell me she found out who the flowers were for, and that person was not me. Feeling a mixture of relief and disappointment, I took them out of the water and put them back in their original plastic. The flower mystery had resolved itself without my help. Sometimes, getting results is about leaving something alone.
I came back to my office, sat in my chair and looked at the wall. Then I chuckled and proceeded to deliver results by kicking ass on my software program.
So… I guess if you want to DELIVER RESULTS when life gives you flowers, make lemonade!
~ Brett
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Fundamental #14: DELIVER RESULTS
While effort is appreciated, what gets recognized and rewarded are results. Set high goals, don’t overpromise, track and measure your progress, then hold yourself accountable for delivering on the results.
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