I have a friend who just bought a house, and man is he excited. He is a single guy, and it is a small 2 bedroom house, with an unfinished basement. And, to say it is a “fixer-upper” would be an understatement.
As best I remember, the basement needed to be fixed so it wouldn’t leak, part of the wiring needed to be redone, the paneling in the basement needed to come down, the toilet in the basement needed to be fixed, and so did the sink, the sump pump needed to be put on its own circuit, as did the furnace, the toilet in the bathroom leaked, the water pressure in the kitchen wasn’t very good, the kitchen sink leaked, and the wall unit for the air conditioner needed reinforcement. That’s just what I can remember off the top of my head. I know there was A LOT more. But, he was so excited about this project.
I stopped by to see him the other day, and he showed me all his progress. It was, to say the least, remarkable. He has done a LOT. But, it seems like each thing he has started, he has found 2 more things that need to be fixed, from minor things, like re-hanging closet doors, to major re-working of electrical lines. Fortunately, he is good at this stuff and is doing a great job. But what impresses me most is his attitude.
You see, here in the KC area we have gotten A LOT of rain, and he thought he had the basement leak fixed. In fact when I was there, he was showing me how dry it was. Well, a couple of days later we had a STORM that came hard. And, guess what, it wasn’t. There was still a place that it leaked. I expected him to be pretty discouraged. Why? Well, because I would have been. All this work, and it still leaks.
But what surprised me most was his text to me.
I figured there was an area that might need more sealing…This amount of rain is a fantastic way to figure that out before I finish the basement. Plus, the water helps me get the mud off the floor, so that’s a positive. And, there is nothing there now that it can damage. Plus, it might help loosen the glue on some old floor tiles.
He went on to tell me that how this really helped him find the leak. So, I am sitting here reading his text, thinking to myself how discouraged I would be, and yet my friend is all excited, because now he found his leak, and can finish his basement.
How do you approach your job. Do mistakes, failures, missteps, mishaps, and oopsies discourage you, or do they help you see what you need to work on, so you can improve. May be all be more like the employees who see mistakes nd unfortunate circumstances for what they really are, guides to help us improve, not indicators of failure!!!
