Prove the Guy WRONG!

Posted In: Confidence and Control
Posted On: 11/20/2017


Have you ever been in a job where you are so fed up that you feel like quitting is the only answer?  Have you ever felt like you can’t do anything right and you are always being second-guessed?  Do you find yourself trying to make excuses to yourself and, more often, to others? Is your go-to emotion feeling all-out mad about the situation?

I have had that feeling many times in my career. 

I hate being in that situation because I question myself and as a result end up in a downward spiral of self-doubt and loss of confidence.  I ask myself, why am I not performing as well as I thought I could?  What is it about this circumstance that brings out the worst in me?  How do I shake off this feeling and become the confident executive that I know I really am?

Which leads to the inevitable thoughts:  how do I get out of here as quickly as possible, cut my losses and find something that energizes me?  Something that builds my confidence versus destroying it?  Something that allows me to be fabulous me again?

Those are all valid thoughts and in a job, we have control over whether we stay or go.  It may not always feel that way, but ultimately, we aren’t indentured servants and can leave at will.  We don’t have to fight a fight we don’t think we can win.

Enter Chris Bentley.

Chris is in his early 60’s with a long track record as a leader in the sustainability movement, an entrepreneur in the pet industry, a mentor and friend to many, including me.

On October 1st, Chris had a massive stroke that left him unable to talk, walk, swallow and he was paralyzed on his right side.  When I saw him a few weeks after the stroke, he was trying so hard to communicate and show he was a fighter.  But the most memorable moment of that visit was when he was literally laughing out loud at a comment he made.  Here he was paralyzed, in his hospital bed, barely able to talk, but he had a rambunctious laugh that would melt the heart of the coldest of Grinches.

Just this morning, I received an email update of his progress which includes being able to get around in a wheelchair, hunt and peck with his left finger, walk/shuffle with help and speak haltingly.  But here is what struck me in the update:

“I keep telling myself and everyone else that I will be 100% better, but the doctor said that’s unrealistic.  I’m going to prove that guy wrong.”

I can’t stop thinking about Chris and his fight to get back to where he was.  How he has the most positive attitude in the face of some very difficult circumstances.  I can't stop thinking about how easy it is in a job to feel defeated and out of control. How hard it is to have a positive attitude in the face of what may seem like a very difficult circumstance. I can’t stop thinking about how we find the strength to persevere when we feel like things are stacked against us.

Maybe, just maybe, we need to look outside ourselves and be determined that the bastards won’t get us down.  That we can get our confidence and our dignity and our power back.  We can work our hardest to gain control of a situation that seems out of control.

In the face of whatever bad circumstance we find ourselves in, let’s all adopt Chris’ positive attitude, his will to overcome a bad situation, and his tenacity to PROVE THE GUY WRONG.

I’m rooting for you, Chris!