The time is 6:11 AM; I have very little time to write in peace before everyone wakes up.
An interesting thing happened the other day. I’ve been stressed and anxious for many months about work. This is normal for an Account Manager because there is always the fear of losing accounts, of management restructuring yet again, of new initiatives, rollouts and so on which are never ending in today’s corporate environment.
I had reached the top, literally. I was #1 last year out of about 55 Account Managers in my division. The pressure to keep performing is hard when I’ve set the bar at the absolute top. Well, over the first part of this year I finally lost not one, but two accounts, the second being last week. I had never lost an account before but the competition is part of a consolidator that is offering extremely low rates, something my company can never match or even come close to. And so, there really was nothing I could do about it and my company knows this so I’m not blamed because in this scenario, that’s just the way it goes.
The interesting thing however is that in losing the accounts I felt the pressure that had been building simply vanish. I actually feel much more relaxed now than I did just three days ago. Anxiety and fear build and build but it is only in the mind.
The thing is, in corporate America one has to always worry about losing their jobs, even if they do very well. There is a laser focus on improving the bottom line at any cost, whether it is having to let people go, be unethical, or hell sometimes even causing death! Whatever it takes to improve the bottom line is what America has become and is all about. Our very own President is a fine testament to that.
But I do not control nor have any influence over that so why worry? I have to make enough money to support my family and I have confidence that I can do that in any situation. Why worry and cause anxiety when it isn’t necessary?
And so, I stumbled upon this wonderful old song, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” the other day and have been listening to it quite a bit. And now, after writing that sentence the song “What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong has also just popped into my mind.
It is a wonderful world indeed and I shouldn’t be spending it always being worried and anxious. That is no way to go through life.
