This past weekend I was reminded of how I am cursed with a need to fix things. This is a shame because I really don’t have the training to do so.
I’m not talking about psychology here; I’m talking about things…household things. For instance, during the first 18 years of my marriage I kept a clothes dryer “alive” that had been given to us when my wife and I were first married. And, when it was given to us, it was already ten years old!
My initial commitment to a yearly ritual of reviving this old clothes dryer began with the poverty-driven need I had in graduate school to save cost or starve. Out of desperation, I would extract broken parts and take them into the appliance parts supply store. It was common for the counter guy to invite the entire staff out for a good laugh and history lesson about “the days when all parts were steel like this one.”
My compulsion continued long after it would have been less time consuming, more energy efficient, and well within my financial capabilities to replace the monster. But, I was not to be defeated. I simply had to fix it.
This past weekend my water heater began leaking. My wife and I actually had a fight over this ridiculous compulsion of mine to prove that “I’ve still got it”. And, of course, the need to save a few bucks.
It took all of Saturday to do the research and all of Sunday to install it. Around the Mashburn house that evening you could hear things coming out of my mouth like, “We’ve got hot water”, or ”Try taking a bath”. It was like I had done something powerful and magic. I think I felt manlier.
What does this have to do with recruiting, coaching or personal performance you ask? Does this somehow apply to the subject matter of this blog? I have no idea. Maybe someone smarter and more creative could come up with some compelling esoteric description of how this could help you, but not me. I was too focused on conquering my water heater over the weekend!
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