I found myself doing a lot of philosophizing this week (yep that’s a real world…check it). I’m not sure if it’s due to the fact that I am trying to take more lunch breaks or that I started taking the stairs to floor 9 of the parking garage every day after work; either way, in all this newfound free time, I’ve been thinking about what really seems to matter at the end of each day.

By this I mean, what is the difference between those days when you can log-off AIM, shut down your computer, and walk out the door feeling content, and those days when you go home grumpy and unsatisfied–ahh the roller coaster of working full-time, eh?

Isn’t it funny how much easier it is to gain clarity when you’re at those peaks–at the top of the roller coaster if you will–then when you’re caught in the twists, turns, and loops. It seems to me that it’s in those high-times that you feel less pressure, less stress, and much more confidence, and thus you are able to step back and examine your day-to-day craze…and suddenly the clutter becomes decipherable.

I think that at the end of the day, what enables you to leave the office feeling accomplished and satisfied, is knowing that you truly put forth more than your best effort that day in all aspects of your job, and that you were able to make progress from it. You will never be able to control the shit storms in our industry–IP issues, data centers going down, a promising offer completely flopping, etc.–but what you can control is your attitude.

At the risk of sounding like my dad (”Go to your room and change your attitude, Michelle”), if you are able to keep a positive attitude throughout the day and stay focused at the task at hand, then you will self create the energy needed to give more than 100% each day. And at the risk of sounding like my Lacrosse Coach in college (”If you’re not giving 100%–at the BARE MINIMUM–then what’s the point of getting out of bed in the morning, let alone getting on the field”), I guarantee that if you are giving 100% each day, at the bare minimum, then you will not find yourself going home unhappy or dissatisfied at the end of the day…which has really been good for me, because climbing nine flights of stairs is not exactly a mood lifter…

This entry was posted on Friday, March 21st, 2008 at 10:19 pm and is filed under Michelle's Blogs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.