Making Costly Mistakes

We are not perfect.  No one is.  Of course we make mistakes ranging from trivial matters to great ones.

I remember working for a client who is very meticulous in everything.  He scrutinies every word in my report, making sure I did not commit any mistake.  He computes every figure, he studies the financial format, are these figures in bold letters, etc.  In other words, he makes sure everything is perfect.

In one of my presentations with that client, I accidentally omitted a total of a column which made all the computations irrelevant.  What a costly mistake!  This should have been the final discussion and we have to redo and present again.

Sometimes these things happen.  I admitted my fault and promised to be more careful next time.

Excellence should be a virtue of all working people.  We are paid to do our work and we have to do it well, to the best of our ability.  Let us exceed the expectations of our superiors by having an excellent mindset.

When we commit a big mistake, let us also forgive ourselves and learn from our experience.  Experience is our best teacher.

Matthew 5:48 - Be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect.

We can never attain perfection, but when we truly try, we will be close to perfect.

When Our Best Is Still Not Enough

When we work, we should give our best, as working for the Lord and not for men.  There has to be an excellent mindset in all of us: that whatever we do, we should give it our best shot.  But what if our best is not yet enough? What if we still fall short of our targets?  What if we have exhausted all our efforts in a certain work and yet, people still find it mediocre?

There should not be any second thought on how we will do things.  It has to be our best, all the time, because that is expected of us.  The Lord says, "Be perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect".

When we do our best, even if it does not pass man's standards, we will not have regrets.  Because that is the maximum that we can go.  We cannot go any further.  If that is still not acceptable, we cannot do anything.

But when we do work just to have it done, we do not do justice to what is expected of us.  We are shortchanging our employer or whoever asked us to do the work.  If we fail, we have ourselves to blame because we could have done more, we could have done better.  There is that stigma that is left in us that makes us say, "I should have done my best".

True, our best may sometimes be not enough to achieve what we want or what others want from us, but as long as we have stretched ourselves to doing our best, there will be no looking back.  That is already our best.  The Lord be the judge.

Breaktime All the Time

Lunch break and snack time are the only break times known to me.  However, I am a witness to incidents wherein employees eat breakfast in the office as soon as they arrive, they do a little work then break again for snacks.  Few hours more, they go out for lunch, then work again.  Count few hours more, they are on snacks again.

I do not know how much work these people are capable of doing, when every so often, they take their breaks.

Management should be strict enough to impose its rules on break times, otherwise there will be low productivity in the office.

Workers should also bear in mind that they are paid to do their work, and by all means, they should do it well.

Reminders, Reminders!

Some people tend to forget instructions, especially if they do not really care to follow them.

One thing I learned from my former boss is this: since I need to have the work done through my staff, I have to follow up on them every once in a while.  This is to ensure that the work is being done and it is done properly.

How horrible would it be if you expect something done on a certain date and to your surprise, it is left unattended.  Worst of all, you will be totally accountable for what happened.

It is worth reminding our people of their assignments, so that following instructions will become a habit for them.  It will save both of you the heartaches of not beating the deadline.

Monday Blues

It's Monday, again.  Workers often dread Mondays.  Primarily because they have to go to their workplace again and suffer the whole scenario for a week.

Seldom do I see people who are excited on Mondays...who are looking forward to the week ahead.  Why is this so?  Who are these people?  Can somebody raise his hand?

Often, people work for the sake of getting a paycheck.  That's all.  They do not enjoy their work.  To them working is something like subjecting yourself to a curse.  This is unfair!  You are getting paid to do your work.  You should do it to the best of your ability.  Inasmuch as you will be doing it, might as well enjoy it in the process.

Try appreciating your work.  Regard it as a blessing.  Condition your mind that you are still fortunate because you are employed.  Very soon, you will learn to enjoy your work and anticipate Mondays.

From Monday blues to cheery Mondays!