Marty Floyd’s Weblog

Napoleon Hill wrote that having a positive mental attitude was one of the requirements to be a success. His formula was proven over and over with the many people he interviewed over the years of his research.

I found myself in a quiet place today going over my resume and “became” philosophic as I peered over my “business” life. I started to think of the high points of my career and the high points of my life.

There seemed to be a pattern or cycle that repeated about every ten years. A high in career presence may not have meant a personal “life” high. There were times when my job required a focus that took away from family and personal core meaning.

I had to work long hours and did little else with more than one employer. I was in a constantly changing career (Information Technology) where the knowledge base changed frequently. Technology started to far exceed the capacity of people’s ability to use it in a timely manner.

If you stayed with the same company for any length of time it became a given that you would miss some leaps in capability because you were buried in the company’s political and technological stresses.

Great strides were made in short order with hardware capability, software and technology specifically designed for types of businesses like retail, energy, and healthcare.

My company purchased one of the first IBM micros to be used for statistical analysis. It only did very few “things” and I didn’t hold much hope for it becoming much in the future. You see my viewpoint was a little cloudy as I was working with and managing two mainframe IBM computer systems.

My viewpoint also became cloudy in my personal life as I was working 80 or more hours a week on a frequent basis. It is easy to get sucked into believing you are making a real difference and that you have to put in the time.

My first shock came when I progressed from a night shift operator up through the ranks to become the director in charge of the whole IT department. About six months after I achieved my lofty perch and pomp, the president of my company (and major stock holder) decided to sell the company.

I worked with the senior people at the company that was “absorbing us” and was offerred a position with them for like salary and position. I never questioned the offer or asked for anything in writing.

Once I had assisted the IT management at the take-over company in obtaining and validating all of the information and financial closeouts, it seemed like a good time to get the specifics of when to come to the new city and company.

When I called there was silence on the other end of the phone for what seemed a long time followed by “you should probably get on a plane and get up here so we can talk.”

That was like being hit hard in the stomach. I struggled to finish the day and go home. I didn’t talk about my feeling with my wife. I just told her I had to go to “my new headquarters” to discuss the transition and meet with management.

As it turned out they did not offer me what they had initially said and I decided not to accept the offer. I did get a call later in the week after I made my decision from the president of the new company. He said that he normally did not get involved with what the IT vice president (and his 4 assistant vice presidents) did on personnel decisions but he wanted my to know that he thought I made the right decision.

To get to a summation in this I will say all the “time” with work did cause my marriage to fail. And the same sort of thing happened again…about ten years later. I did learn that there is no more important action or decision in life than to keep your core being or self in the forefront of any major decision.

In order to be at peace, be happy, and experience lasting joy it is a requirement to maintain a positive mental attitude. Moreover, keep your major “life guiding principles” steadfast in any important decisions you would make. Life is not a rehearsal. There is only one life for you to live. Live it well!