Have you ever run smack into a situation that sort of makes you question the trajectory your life is currently taking?

I recently started working as a sales rep at “the gym” (I put this in brackets because my work place has become something of a black hole). Even with the promotion, getting out of there is high on my priorities.

Several weeks ago I was signing up a father and son duo for memberships. Both were pretty good looking guys, clean shaven, well-groomed, suits, on their lunch break at their big and fancy corporate job. These two had money. You could tell just by looking at them.  I could feel the elitism boring into me as I went through the clubs membership options. I sported a big goofy smile as the father son team looked at me, nodding politely at everything I said. Both worked at the same company – the son was certainly following in his father’s footsteps.

They both decided to join, so I turned to my computer to begin taking down their information. Several mistakes occurred. First I mixed up who was who. I tried to play a fast one and said the name out loud towards the computer, thinking the correct person would respond. Unfortunately, the son didn’t hear what name I’d said and responded incorrectly. I responded back thinking I had the right person, only to be corrected by the dad. Oops. Now I looked like an idiot.

I tried to save face, but the unease in the room increased as my usually fast fingers couldn’t seem to find the right keys. “What’s your birthday?” I asked the son? He was an 89 baby like me, and I bit my tongue before admitting that we were the same age. I can just imagine the look of pity, ugh. I got out of this uncomfortable situation with a little bit of bruised ego, and the father’s look of pity burned into my brain.

This little occurrence has caused me to take a good look at what I’m doing.

At the start of each week I do up my weekly planner like a good little girl (I say this in jest, but I’m actually quite proud of my weekly planner). As each day passes, I tirelessly work to get everything “close” to completed. At the end of the week I’ve generally completed almost everything on my to-do list, and yet I don’t seem to be any further ahead than I was at the beginning of the week.

“I don’t understand” says that part of me that works so hard with so little result.

Then it hit me. Yes, I’m working VERY hard – but the vision at the end of the work isn’t there. What am I trying to accomplish by doing all this work in the “now?” Sure I have several long-term goals, and work-related goals – but what about goals related to outcome.

One of my goals is to write 2 articles for examiner.com. No problem. I could write 2 articles a week for examiner.com for the rest of my life and be no further ahead than I am right now. You can’t just make goals related to work, you also have to make goals related to outcome.

I made this shift in thinking a couple of days ago, and with this thinking in mind wrote my 3rd article for examiner.com. Today I received an e-mail informing me that they LOVED my article, and were featuring it on the front page of their fitness and health page.

Here’s the article: 3 nutrition myths that are severely impeding your post-workout recovery

So, I guess the moral of this story is – respond to every thing that happens to you in your life. Always take a moment to reflect, and then move forward from what you’ve learned. This experience has lit a bit of a fire underneath me, and has sparked a new question that I have decided to begin every week by asking:

How will I move forward this week?

In other words. Look at where you are right now. How will your current situation be different by weeks end?

On a side note, I’ve decided to start incorporating stories from my life into each blog post. I am, after all, a story teller. My blogs as good a place as any to get some practice.