Thursday, September 27, 2007

A Reminder - Good One

Today morning I received a story in my office mailbox; unintentionally I ignored it knowing it's a lengthier then usual forward mails. But when I bring out it in a later point of time I was quite surprised by the content. I knew it was a reminder for all of us, we tend to forgot things in our day to day activities just by sticking so much of every thing to our self. Could we understand the cause of undesirable duck ?? Surely, need to have an eye on it.

Here goes the story, I thought it blog worthy !!!


LAW OF THE GARBAGE TRUCK - Let the garbage go by.
By David J. Pollay

How often do you let other people's nonsense change your mood?
Do you let a bad driver, rude waiter, curt boss, or an insensitive employee ruin your day? Unless you're the Terminator, for an instant you're probably set back on your heels.
However, the mark of a successful person is how quickly she can get back her focus on what's important.

Sixteen years ago I learned this lesson. I learned it in the back of a New York City taxi cab. Here's what happened.

I hopped in a taxi, and we took off for Grand Central Station. We were driving in the right lane when all of a sudden, and I mean without warning, a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded and missed the other car's back end by just inches.

Here's what happened next. The driver of the other car, the guy who almost caused a big accident, whipped his head around and he started yelling bad words at us. How do I know? Ask any New Yorker, some words in New York come with a special face.

Now, here's what blew me away. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was friendly. So, I said, "Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!" And this is when my taxi driver told me what I now call, "The Law of the Garbage Truck."

Many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it. And if you let them, they'll dump it on you.

When someone wants to dump on you, don't take it personally. You just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. You'll be happy you did. I guarantee it.

So this was it: The "Law of the Garbage Truck." I started thinking, how often do I let Garbage Trucks run right over me? And how often do I take their garbage and spread it to other people: at work, at home, on the streets? It was that day I said, "I'm not going to do it anymore."

Well now "I see Garbage Trucks." I see the load they're carrying. I see them coming to drop it off. And like my Taxi Driver, I don't make it a personal thing; I just smile, wave, wish them well, and I move on.

One of my favorite Football players of all time, Walter Payton, did this every day on the football field. He would jump up as quickly as he hit the ground after being tackled. He never dwelled on a hit. Payton was ready to make the next play his best. Good leaders know they have to be ready for their next meeting. Good parents know that they have to welcome their children home from school with hugs and kisses.

Leaders and parents know that they have to be fully present, and at their best for the people they care about.

The bottom line is that successful people do not let Garbage Trucks take over their day.

2 comments:

Himanshu Sheth said...

Hey Alok,
First of all,this template looks nice :) Now on to your article,

>>Today morning I received a story in my office mailbox
--Cool,so you blogged in the office.I wish I could also do the same :)

>> Good leaders know they have to be ready for their next meeting. Good parents know that they have to welcome their children home from school with hugs and kisses.Leaders and parents know that they have to be fully present, and at their best for the people they care about.The bottom line is that successful people do not let Garbage Trucks take over their day.

--I agree with him and it is a great lesson.I also sometimes get succumbed to these things where a person X spoils the day but now it has changed(but changes always take some time :))There is a fundamental problem in each & every human being ---> WE ALL WANT TO BE SAFE and hence,the easiest solution is to blame others (:

I was 100% in that garbage TRUCK but with some problems I have managed to take myself 25% out of the truck :) Getting ourselves out of the TRUCK is the first thing that a leader should do :)

Nice article and keep blogging...

-Himanshu Sheth
(Blogger at http://thoughtsprevail.blogspot.com)

alok said...

Thanks Himanshu.

Well, I read blogs in office but don't really like to post. And glad to know that you’re off from the truck. We think there are lots of things in life that really makes it impossible to live with, probably that’s incorrect because we like to learn things in hard way ;)

- Alok