Don’t Worry ‘Bout a Thing

‘Four out of Five Dentists Recommend you don’t read this Blog as part of a Proper Reading Schedule.’

I couldn’t quite believe it.

I got up first. My three kids were still sleeping.

Took my toothbrush out of my cup and… oh no…

We were out of toothpaste.

What do you do when you when you are out of toothpaste… not just me, but my kids as well?

My 12-year-old will think it’s a good break because he won’t have to brush his teeth.

My 15-year-old will growl saying,

“Dad, we are out of toothpaste. We are also out of apples.”  

He will say the second thing because we are always out of apples (because he eats three or four a day). And he is making the assumptive close that I will be going to the store to get toothpaste immediately.

My 20-year-old daughter won’t say anything, will figure something out and cheerfully remind me when I get home later in the day.

“Daddy, not sure if you know, but we are out of toothpaste”.

When you are out of toothpaste you can’t go to neighbors and ask. It’s not like borrowing a cup of flour.

You shouldn’t walk up in your day sleeping shorts – loosely hanging about your waist, old tattered t-shirt with some catchy beer slogan on the front and hit the doorbell.

Your neighbor Elsie answers the door, seeing you there with your toothbrush outstretched, you say.

“Can you just squirt a nice layer of dentifrice on my brush here?”

Nope, you are in a fix.

You are in a situation no doubt.

I have come to realize that life is more about the way you come up with plans when you don’t have all the resources. And you must understand that in running a business, a transportation management software company, that you won’t have all the resources that you want or desire. There will always be a limitation.

You won’t have enough staff – you think.

You won’t have enough time – you think.

You don’t have enough capital – you think.

You don’t have enough firepower to compete – you think.

But as you go on in your career you will begin to grasp the joy you get in overcoming the challenges that are presented to you. And you will even begin to relish them because – and here’s a tiny little secret okay – businesses that run perfectly and hum along… well, they can get quite boring!

You can end up feeling like that famous guy on the car assembly line whose entire job was drilling a rivet into some piece of steel.

When I think about some of the problems and challenges presented a little voice goes off in my head. It was the voice of Shari Levitin of The Levitin Group, and her groundbreaking work with salespeople.

‘As a salesperson, you are there precisely for the difficulty. You get paid for the difficulty.’

So, as I traveled to work this morning I was listening to the radio, and on came Bob Marley and the Wailers’ song the ‘Three Little Birds’

‘Don’t worry about a thing

‘Cause every little thing gonna be alright

Singing don’t worry about a thing

‘Cause every little thing gonna be alright’ 

So, as I am sitting here blogging and I see the trials and sales come in for our transportation management software company I am going to enjoy this moment, listening to Bob and the Wailers, before I head out to the morass of problems and challenges that inevitably arise in the business.

Oh… and in case you stuck around to the end. I found a small tube of toothpaste in one of my travel toiletry bag. Spared my kids being boycotted by their friends and avoided wrecking Elsie’s day!

‘Don’t Worry Bout a Thing…’