Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

One of the great habits of highly effective persons and organizations is that they “come back to it.”

“We will come back to it when we have the time,” an oft-repeated but seldom completed phrase of the well intentioned.

Sigh. We will come back to this. How many times have I heard that? Many more times than I have seen it fulfilled. I have to do something right now. I know it isn’t the better way to do it, but, gosh, it’s the best I can do now. At least I think it is the best I can do now. I could do much better now, but, gosh, let’s just take the easy way out and all that stuff.

The time or resources or energy or something never allow that return trip. The thing continues to limp along. Perhaps times will change and that thing will go away. Perhaps time will elapse and I will go away and leave that thing to someone else (ah, escape).

I know an elderly man who looks at a task and says he will get to it another day. And, guess what? He does get to it another day. He does come back to it and does the better thing to take care of it. I greatly admire that elderly man.

That elderly man, however, is the exception. How does he do it? He does it. That’s how.

Pretty simple, huh. Yes, pretty simple. Yet it seems to be beyond the great majority of us. We can do better.