Motivation - Passionate about Life

MOTIVATION - Passionate about Life

By Nikki Viljoen of N Viljoen Consulting CC

Today’s quote comes from an anonymous person who said “It takes a strong man to swim against the current; any dead fish will float with it"

I had to smile when I read this and thought about what I am going to write today – I had this instant video in my head, with all these lifeless fish just floating along!  Smelly and unpleasant to say the least!  Oh the movies that my head produces – not all of them pleasant and many of them could very well turn into absolute nightmare!

And nightmares are what a great number of business owners will have if the majority of the people that they employ are “dead fish” – you know the ones that I mean.  Yes, it’s those that come to work because they have no place else to go, they put in the time – just barely – they don’t put in more effort, than the bear minimum that it takes to allow life to be sustainable.  They don’t work a second more than they are required to and God forbid that they should ever be passionate or even care about what it is that they do!

For me, working with people like this is very, execruciatingly, very painful.  They are the ones that you sometimes want to shake, just to see if they are actually still alive! 

I mean, exactly what is the point?  Why do anything at all if it’s not worth going the whole hog, and giving your best effort?  Why attempt anything as if you can’t look at it, once the job is done, with pride or even with understanding, because of the lesson learnt? It’s just this complete indifference that gets me every time.

I understand that there are a great number of people out there who are fearful of making a mistake, scared of what people may say or think about them.  I could not live like that either – in constant fear - that would be a total waste of effort and emotion too for that matter.  Can you imagine living life, constantly looking over your shoulder to see if anyone is watching you – constantly  straining to hear what people are saying, because they may be saying something about you!  Oh good God no!  That would be just too weird for words.

For me, life is about the living of it, of every moment!  Taking it in both hands, enjoying it, savoring it, pushing it, tasting it, loving it!

It’s about trying new things, even failing at them – as long as you learn the lesson.  It’s about pushing the boundaries, to see how far you can go.

It’s about testing my own limits.  It’s about learning new things. It’s about laughter and yes even tears, it’s about life!

Floating about like a dead fish is not for me – it’s, well, it’s “for dead fish”!

Give me a staff member with a bit of life in them any day – they may test my patience (what little I have), they may make me mad and drive me crazy, but they will always pleasantly surprise me too.

Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za