Getting Things Done Relies on Attitude as Much as Tools…

Metal is a recyclable product and there are some folks, up here where I live, that will take it off your hands for free because they can earn money for it at the local recycling yard. 

I bought the home I live in a little over 3 years ago and each year I try to get more things moved over to Done… This year was finishing up my kitchen and my annual refactoring of junk… The previous owner was a collector of such… I was a naïve buyer and did not “see” the amount of junk there was until I started changing the property to fit my design…

One of the things that both astounded and arose the anger in me was the misuse of the wooded area on the property… dumping and hiding trash… Last year I hauled two loads of it to the local dump, plus paid to dispose of 18 tires I found there… I have firm beliefs in natural habitats… if you go to them – leave them as they were… do not leave anything behind… totally off-topic…

Anyhow, I found an advertisement from a fellow who does odd jobs, and he happened to have an advertisement for removal of metal for free as well…  Scary as it is in this day and age, I decided I would call and see what he could help me with…

We played “phone-tag” for a couple of days, but then we finally set a date… he, and one of his helpers, came over to assess… 

I asked a lot of questions, to get to understand something of who I invited to my property, and to gain some personal insight… I was impressed with what I found out.  These fellows held full-time, paying positions at a local factory and were doing this for extra money to help support their families… since my father, who worked three jobs at a time when I was young – in order to provide for his family -  I have known none to do this… Trust me, there was a lot of questions…  cause “trust” is not a given for me…

They agreed to take the metal, and when we were looking at the “this-years-junk-removal” pile, he was hesitant to name a price.  I already had a price in mind, so I said, just say what you are thinking… He told me his price, mine was slightly higher, so I told him what it was and said if there were any changes due to items in pile (at the landfill) that I would fix the price accordingly… He never asked for more… he passed the test… He could have thought I knew little of the landfill and tried to get more money out of me – especially because most females have limited knowledge of the whole thing – but he did not.

When they came to take the recyclable metal – which was old/outdated/unused items:  an ancient GM Frigidaire, an old wood burning furnace, and a freezer – up came one issue with one item… The freezer would not fit through the back door of the room that it was in.  A ½ inch more clearance was needed in order for it to be removed…

He told me, “I can’t remove the doorframe to get this out.  I am not comfortable with doing that.”  The word “can’t” -  due largely in part to an Elementary School teacher I had (Mrs. Alderman), does not fit in my thoughts… I recall, to this day, her reprimand of another student who said this… she replied, “Can’t means won’t”.   Because of her words, there have been a lot of situations in my life where I have been told I “can’t” do something, and I have proved otherwise… I have been forced to learn new things and grow through each of these situations… but I was willing to do so, because her words were/are a challenge to me…

I told the young man to go start on the other things and that I would figure it out…

And I did… it took a little time to figure out the tools I would need and the proper plan of attack… but the darn thing is gone and no damage was done…

When I offered them money at the end of removal, the young man in charge argued against it – but I had already determined it was fair, and it is hard to argue with a determined/convinced person..

At the end of the day I learned some things, and I think they did too… And I attribute that to having the “Can Do” attitude on both of our parts…

They worked physically hard for their part… Mine was mostly mental… but we all wanted the job Done… and it was indeed Done J

While this may be an off-topic way of showing what a team effort does, let me be emphatic on the team effort part…   I work with a team where I share some core values: “ I said I will get this Done by such-and-such date” means I “committed” to it… I work with some folks who give up time they do not account for just to "Get R Done"...  I work with a team that pulls out all stops to do what they said they would do… I am proud of us… not because we always succeed, but because of the attitude behind it… the Can Do Attitude...

You do not necessarily have to have the proper tools, the correct processes, the right timing, etc. to accomplish things… you do not have to necessarily always succeed…  but you do indeed need the proper attitude… Have you checked yours lately?