I recently caught my daughter in a lie and found it a moment to
teach her a lesson that most have forgotten. The value of the truth.
When I opened my shop, Tates PC Repair in
Bucyrus, I found it important to keep integrity at the front of my business
plan. I was frustrated that I had dealt with years of being forced into
masking the truth from customers or being documented (that's a form of
punishment) for being transparent and honest. I hated it! I
actually corrected a lie from another associate to a client in a respectable
manor at one point and was put instantly on a final (which, if it was used
wouldn't have stuck because it was my first warning but they tried to escalate
it to a final warning without due cause). Not only has this been a staple
of my growth it has proven to be the most valuable lesson I could teach my kids
in today's world: the good guys still win.
I stopped my daughter from the lie and
then corrected her... I then asked her how she had a house to live in.
Keep in mind, my daughter is 6 years old. She said "because
daddy works." I didn't get the answer I was looking for but let’s
coach it out of her...
Me: "Yeah, do you know where daddy
works?"
Her: "At your shop."
Me: "Correct, do you know how I have
my own shop instead of working for someone else?"
Her: "No."
Me: "Did you know there are people
who know more about computers than I do?"
Her: "No."
Me: "It's because daddy tells the
truth to his customers. People want to trust me and they know I can.
Most people that know more than daddy don't like to be completely honest
and that makes it easier for daddy's shop to do well... people trust me because
I always tell them the truth."
In that moment I felt like the years of
heart ache for telling customers what they didn't want to hear was all worth it. I could finally share a key to my success with my children. "I could
make it up but honestly I have no idea why you got this infection."
There are some best practices... but after you have your clients
executing them and they still have problems the only thing you can do is tell
the truth: I don't know.
I was watching Duck Dynasty last night and
I saw the Thanksgiving episode when Mrs. Kay said she didn't know how long to
fry the turkey... Willie’s first response was: "You can't say you don't
know!" Why not? Why can't people be human? We're not
saying that we won't get the answer... we're not saying that we won't get it
right. We're simply telling you the truth in that moment. I would
like to commend Mrs. Kay for not making something up or, to be frank, BSing her
way out of that moment. She, instead, took a moment to show her humanity
and allow us to trust that she was confident in two things: she could get the
answer in a timely manner and everything prior was correct and the best way to
do things. If not... she would have been consulting the same resource she
did for the cooking time. I like Willie Robertson and his life lesson
moments he gives on that show for the most part. I don't mean to take away from
him or make him look negative for that. What he's doing is being coached
into him by society in today's age.
"Go fast" "No mistakes"
"Go faster" "Do it faster"
There comes a point where you're not
longer optimizing the situation because you're going faster than what is
healthy. You need to slow down, be sure you're doing things right, be
sure you're telling people the truth and have actually researched things to the
best of your ability. Get the proper training. Enjoy the cycle of
life you're in and take your time getting through it. We all have points
of strife and points of prosperity. Enjoy both of them. Be honest
about both of them. Tell people what got you to where you are if they
ask!
I can tell you why I'm still able to be
happy in my moments of sadness: because I have hymns and prayers. When
I'm saddest I will sing a hymn that I learned as a child in Church and it makes
me happier. When I'm depressed I'll pray and it helps me to clear my mind
of the worries that were keeping me down. Sharing things with a neighbor,
or more importantly with God if you're a believer, helps you to relax and enjoy
life. That moment of peace makes things so much clearer and helps you to
do one of the most important things you can ever do in your life: tell the
truth.
Don't sugar coat your lies... if you lie
it was wrong and you're going to pay for it. The best thing you can do is
apologize to the person you lied to and explain to them the purpose for your
lie. Most often I think people lie because they don't realize their lies
anymore. They've done it for so long they just do it without thinking.
Slow down, think, get the truth, and share it. There is a correct answer
to most questions and anything besides that correct answer is a lie.
Don't be a liar, in the end it will hurt you and those you love.
Hopefully this doesn't completely fall on
deaf ears and if you've taken the time to read through this it has either
encouraged you for living an honest life, as I try to do. If you don't I
hope it's encouraged you to turn over a new leaf and start.
Have a great day and remember to tell the
truth!
