(s) Mind!
A chance conversation with our most successful financial consultant at the office where I work has triggered some thoughts and insights to mull through.
She is a former student of mine. About my age. Give or take a half dozen of years. Today I had the opportunity to learn that she is still miffed (to say the least) that I did not become HER customer but another former student's.
She's so self-centered!
To her it doesn't count in the least that I had been in touch with my other student about financial consulting for a good half year before she came calling. She totally forgot that she had not mentioned the consulting company when she called me on the phone. In fact nowadays she's claiming the opposite. I felt quite inconvenienced accommodating her, especially since she was the one student who most frequently cancelled her lessons. She hadn't mentioned that her trainer would come along. In fact she had suggested a language lesson after which she would like to add a bit of research for a project she said she had as part of an economy course at the school where I was working. The latter she still insists today was true.
What a jumble! I think she's lying to herself! But she's the successful one. So I find myself wondering: Is that what it takes? Is there really no other way?
On top of that she gave me a "everything that goes around comes around" trip. Or at least she tried. I wrote a sharply formulated letter in order to become a coworker on the team of my other student - well, sub-team of his team leader as it turned out - while she made a last ditch attempt at having me as a customer.
As far as I'm concerned, her memory is flawed. But she's still the successful one.
What an insight into the workings of the human mind! I have spent years trying to be as objective and precise about the workings of my own mind as I possibly could. Market value? - ZIP! What's more, my attitude has made me quite dispassionate and hard to motivate. Whereas my successful colleague might as well be getting her motivation from her distorted memory.
Still. I wouldn't want to trade places with her. She can get so upset with her own performance while still being so successful. To me that's just not healthy. If it hadn't been for our conversation today, I would have expected her "loss" of me as a customer to have been more than compensated by all the awards and bonuses she won. - Por nada!
I retaliated more as a matter of formality than anything else, that it was not exactly her place to talk about "what goes around comes around" since she had been my most unreliable student as far as keeping appointments went. But that she wouldn't have to bother herself with that since she was successful and welcome to her success for all I care. Somewhere she must be doing things right for what it takes in her trade.
Gosh, I think she even tried to needle me with a "go back to being a language teacher" remark. Seriously, I wouldn't want to bear such grudges. But it goes a way towards explaining one thing:
I've often found myself wondering why people try to best me at something or other even though I never have the impression of trying to oppress anyone or compete with anybody. As justified as I feel in my actions, it is insignificant to what I consider an irrational, passion-driven mind.
I feel as if I'm on the verge of understanding why one should keep ones enemies closer than ones friends and why one should flatter them as much as possible. But from there to making this a habit I'm afraid it's still a long way. Longer perhaps than I have time and resources to remain in financial consulting.
Truth be told: if there's one thing over which I would sacrifice my health, it would probably be drawing comics. I've never believed I'd be able to even sustain myself with that, though. Back in 1986 I once told myself: "The day I'll pursue getting my stories on paper will be the day I'm convinced I have no other option left."
There is something of a proverb I understand people say who have made a name for themselves in some field of endeavor or other: "You don't become successful by doing what you want, but by doing what you can't help doing."
... ouch ...
She is a former student of mine. About my age. Give or take a half dozen of years. Today I had the opportunity to learn that she is still miffed (to say the least) that I did not become HER customer but another former student's.
She's so self-centered!
To her it doesn't count in the least that I had been in touch with my other student about financial consulting for a good half year before she came calling. She totally forgot that she had not mentioned the consulting company when she called me on the phone. In fact nowadays she's claiming the opposite. I felt quite inconvenienced accommodating her, especially since she was the one student who most frequently cancelled her lessons. She hadn't mentioned that her trainer would come along. In fact she had suggested a language lesson after which she would like to add a bit of research for a project she said she had as part of an economy course at the school where I was working. The latter she still insists today was true.
What a jumble! I think she's lying to herself! But she's the successful one. So I find myself wondering: Is that what it takes? Is there really no other way?
On top of that she gave me a "everything that goes around comes around" trip. Or at least she tried. I wrote a sharply formulated letter in order to become a coworker on the team of my other student - well, sub-team of his team leader as it turned out - while she made a last ditch attempt at having me as a customer.
As far as I'm concerned, her memory is flawed. But she's still the successful one.
What an insight into the workings of the human mind! I have spent years trying to be as objective and precise about the workings of my own mind as I possibly could. Market value? - ZIP! What's more, my attitude has made me quite dispassionate and hard to motivate. Whereas my successful colleague might as well be getting her motivation from her distorted memory.
Still. I wouldn't want to trade places with her. She can get so upset with her own performance while still being so successful. To me that's just not healthy. If it hadn't been for our conversation today, I would have expected her "loss" of me as a customer to have been more than compensated by all the awards and bonuses she won. - Por nada!
I retaliated more as a matter of formality than anything else, that it was not exactly her place to talk about "what goes around comes around" since she had been my most unreliable student as far as keeping appointments went. But that she wouldn't have to bother herself with that since she was successful and welcome to her success for all I care. Somewhere she must be doing things right for what it takes in her trade.
Gosh, I think she even tried to needle me with a "go back to being a language teacher" remark. Seriously, I wouldn't want to bear such grudges. But it goes a way towards explaining one thing:
I've often found myself wondering why people try to best me at something or other even though I never have the impression of trying to oppress anyone or compete with anybody. As justified as I feel in my actions, it is insignificant to what I consider an irrational, passion-driven mind.
I feel as if I'm on the verge of understanding why one should keep ones enemies closer than ones friends and why one should flatter them as much as possible. But from there to making this a habit I'm afraid it's still a long way. Longer perhaps than I have time and resources to remain in financial consulting.
Truth be told: if there's one thing over which I would sacrifice my health, it would probably be drawing comics. I've never believed I'd be able to even sustain myself with that, though. Back in 1986 I once told myself: "The day I'll pursue getting my stories on paper will be the day I'm convinced I have no other option left."
There is something of a proverb I understand people say who have made a name for themselves in some field of endeavor or other: "You don't become successful by doing what you want, but by doing what you can't help doing."
... ouch ...