Message of the Day - Stepping Up Is not always Staying Up

Good Morning,

 

It seems I passed along my stomach bug to my beloved wife. Not a wise thing for a hubby to do, but then again, my skills in germ warfare are limited.  Maybe something special on Valentines day will help smooth it over.

 

Anyway, this evening my younger daughter stepped up to the plate to help with the chores. She fed the critters around the house (currently 4 cats, 2 dogs, 2 hermit crabs and a beta fish), and helped walk the dogs and bring them in, in addition to the rest of her chores for the evening. It was a big help as I am in the middle of preparing for the Robert Burns Gala for the Scottish Society in less than two weeks and have many tasks to do with that in addition to my normal duties. So with Karen being ill, the extra help was welcomed.

 

Having others step up in times of need is great. I find myself doing it a lot in many different aspects of my life. What I find myself getting into trouble with, though is staying up.

 

That is, when I step up and do more, it sometimes becomes expected that this new level of activity will be the norm. This, often, is acceptable as we have more of ourselves and our time to give.

 

But what happens when we don't have that extra time and we are asked to step up. The best of us will roll up our sleeves and give what we can, but the wisest of us will then step back down, usually after doing a hand off.

 

Those who keep stepping up will eventually overwhelm themselves and that will hurt the entire organization when the house of cards comes crumbling down.

 

And don't expect those around you to warn you about not stepping up too often. Look around, everyone is busy and most of us could use the help.

 

The challenge is knowing when to step up, when to stay up and when to step back down again.

 

One solution I have found is review my priorities daily. Ask myself what is expected of me today. Know what has to be done, and then when the call for help come, and they will, sometimes multiple calls, you will have a better idea of what you can do, by knowing what you are going to have to put aside for a while.

 

Knowing that you have a project with a deadline tomorrow helps keep the calls for help in check, knowing you can step up, so long as you step down again to give you enough time to meet your deadline, or get it pushed back.

 

We will no doubt be stepping up again tomorrow to help with the next challenges, but when we do, lets keep an eye on the other items we are responsible for.

 

Enjoy.

 

Sanford Berenberg
Sanford@berenberg.net
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