JUNGLE JIM - M'S GEMS

By: Melissa Goldberg

I am one of the lucky kids that learned how important it is to love what you do from watching my father at a young age. After my Father (you can call him Reggie) graduated college, he had an opportunity to invest in a restaurant business. He had worked at the restaurant as a teenager, he grew up in the neighborhood, he knew many of the customers and he understood what it took to run a business. So, to own a business? WOW! Talk about a success story. Well, the hours were very long, the vacations were nonexistent and the work lacked gratification.

So what did my dad do? His story is a bit of a black cloud with a silver lining. He became ill and was forced to sell his partnership in order to deal with his health. Folks, Iʼm getting to the good part here. Fortunately, he received a clean bill of health and was ready to head back to work. It was time for him to find a new job. He was offered several well paid positions but quickly became bored and felt, although it would pay the bills (which there were quite a few at the time) these jobs were not for him.

After some time, my father started in a sales position for a mortgage company. He enjoyed it, he loved it and because he loved it, he did well, very well. He had bankers hours, but that didnʼt stop him, he set up a work area in the house and you couldnʼt keep him away from work. He never had to miss family stuff anymore and he got to vacation with his family. He was successful, very successful and I know itʼs because he loved what he was doing. So, it was clear.

There is a huge difference between being successful at work then being fulfilled with work. Jeffery Gitterman, author of “Beyond Success: Redefining The Meaning of Prosperity” and our guest on “Jungle Jim” offered many gems for those who wonder if there is something different out there, something you could do a little bit better because you love what your doing.

Define Love - Often we think we love to do something, but after a while we realized we really like something. I used to dance a lot when I was younger. I really thought I loved to dance. I used to wonder why I didnʼt continue dancing after high school. Um, itʼs because I liked it. I didnʼt love it and I didnʼt realize this till a couple of years ago. When you love something, you canʼt get enough of it. So, if you donʼt know if itʼs love, try it, see if it sticks. Youʼll know if itʼs love. Yes, Iʼm still talking about work.

Have No Fear - often there is only one thing stopping us from taking the next step. It’s fear. You can dress it up in all different excuses, but really, itʼs fear. Richard Bransen (founder of Virgin Atlantic Airways) was told by his mentor Freddie Laker Make a fool of yourself or youʼll never survive. Courage, although a noun, is the hardest action.

Make the Movie of your Life - So, if you could watch your life in a movie, what would happen? Who are the main characters? What is the setting? How would it end? This is a great tool to help you visualize what it is you want. If you can do this, then you can start taking steps in the right direction to play the movie out in real life. Itʼs okay to go back and rewrite scenes, and itʼs okay for things to get cut and end up on the editing floor. After all, you are the producer and director.

Change - Change is hard and sometimes we are not sure how to change. But, if you are hitting a wall over and over something has change. If you donʼt like something, change it. If you canʼt change it, change your attitude. ~ Maya Angelou

Get to Know Yourself a Little Better - Okay, this example is a bit of a stretch. I was making meatballs and found myself getting a bit anal-retentive about the size and shape of my meatballs. I told my husband that people who are Type A should never make meatballs. Itʼs too much stress trying to get them all the same size and shape. But, here’s the thing. Because Iʼm in sales, I interact with different types of customers daily. I want to know what their perspective is so I can effectively “sell” to them. I have taken several personality tests and learned a lot about myself and others. These tests help you understand what types of roles your personality likes and dislikes and you can see how each person has their own unique perspective. Although I like children, my personality does not match up with being a teacher, so I can cross that idea off my list.

Your Reality Is Your Perspective, Have a Little Faith - Here’s a twofer for you. Jeff used a great example taking us back to the 1400’s when people thought the world was flat. From their perspective, the earth was flat. Obviously, there were people who thought the world was round. The Flatties believed the Rounders would literally sail off and fall off the end of the earth. The Rounders had blind faith that if they sailed off into the horizon they’d eventually circle back to where they began. Itʼs a choice to believe that there is something out there that is bigger than you. As a parent, it is essential to have a little faith in our kids that they will get through each day. Have faith that you are resilient and that if you fall you can get back up and dust yourself off. Live like you know you will never lack of anything and spirit will always keep proper wind in your sails and you will not fall into the abyss.

Get Yourself A Mentor - If you ask most successful people if they had a mentor? I would bet they did. A mentor is a trusted adviser. It is important to master the skills and work hard, thatʼs your job but, if you saw The Karate Kid (the original 1984 film), Daniel (Ralph Macchio) learned everything he needed to know about karate from Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita) – “wax on, wax off”.

Be All That You Can Be - It is important to realize that there is a big difference between You can be anything you want versus Be all the you can be. One simple example is, if Cynthia and I wanted to be the next Destinyʼs Child itʼs never going to happen. So although it is important to do what you love, it important to make sure you have the skills required. Learn what you are good at and be the best at it!

Nothing is work unless youʼd rather be doing something else. ~ George Halas & often my Dad, Reggie.

A big thank you to my father and my husband and all the other fathers, who wake up early everyday and go off to work to provide for his family.

Happy Father's Day!

M'S Gems