Is That Your Phone Ringing?
This past New Year’s Eve, Pope Francis called a small convent of five Carmelite nuns in Lucena, Spain. Instead of getting one of the nuns on the phone, he got an answering machine and had to leave a voice-mail message. Here is his message: “What are the nuns doing that they can’t answer? I am Pope Francis, I wish to greet you in this end of the year. I will see if I can call you later. May God bless you!” It seems the nuns were engaged in noontime prayer.
When the sisters later picked up the message, they didn’t know what to do, so they contacted their Bishop, who tried to call the Vatican, but couldn’t get through. The sisters were from Argentina and had met the one-day-to-become-Pope years ago – never expecting he’d remember them. Later that day, Pope Francis called a second time. According to Sister Adriana, he told them “to never lose hope, because sadness leads to spiritual sloth and hopelessness.”
So, what’s the moral of this amazing story?
Always be prepared for when the phone may ring for you! There’s an old saying that many attribute to Woody Allen, “Eighty percent of success is just showing up.” There’s some truth to that.
How many times do we fail to “show up” because we are too tired to go out at night after a long day of work? Or because we think that it won’t matter and we’ll never be missed? Or because we feel that success is only for “special” people who have some kind of in – more education, better political connections, are smarter, luckier, deserve it more than we do? Well, the truth is,none of us can predict what will make the difference in us getting ahead. Sure all these things help, but the truth of the matter is that we have to show up! If we aren’t even in the vicinity, how can we be chosen?
The answer – we can’t!
Now, I don’t mean to imply that Pope Francis will be calling you – although with this wondrous man, you never know. But, what I do mean to say is that we should all take advantage of everyopportunity that comes our way – no excuses. For, we never know which opportunity will be the one that opens doors, introduces us to the movers and shakers, provides us with a bit of information that gives us a kick-start, or turns the light bulb on in our minds. And because we don’t know, we have to assume that everything is a possibility for catapulting us into success.
Let me leave you with these thoughts.
- When you have the choice of staying home and doing nothing or going out and engaging – Engage (with a capital E).
- If a new experience is offered – a new assignment, a new challenge, a new encounter – grab a hold and run with it.
- Never underestimate yourself or what may make the difference in your life. You are usually better than you give yourself credit for and the most insignificant-seeming thing can make a HUGE difference.
- If you keep doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep getting what you’ve always got. Shake things up and watch what happens.
- Be prepared to jump in, even if you don’t think you have the necessary skills or are quite ready. Truth be told, if people waited til they were “ready,” nothing would ever be done. There’s always “one more thing” to do, say, achieve, etc. You can learn on the fly.
- In today’s world, the bottom line is networking and relationships. Oftentimes, it isn’t what you know, but who you know. More things happen because of collaboration than individual genius.
- And…always have your answering machine turned on.
For information on SyN workshops that will get your employees more engaged and willing to “show up” each and every day, contact SyN. We can help you increase productivity and have a more cohesive work team. Go to www.speakersyouneed.com.