Will you be EAGER today?

As a leader I have the fortunate opportunity to interview a lot of people for positions at varying levels within the companies I have worked for and worked with. I have also had the fortunate opportunity to interview people who are interviewing for promotions within those same companies.  With the 100’s of people I have interviewed over the years I have determined that the ones I like to hire and the ones that I like to promote live their life with an EAGER interest.  Here are some of the words that define eager. Enthusiastic, intense, desirous, pumped, gong ho, impatient to name a few.  These words make up the kind of person I am looking to hire and to promote.  But they also make up the kind of person I want to be around and have in my life.

The word eager and the attributes that make up the people who are eager are so important to me that I defined it further with this acronym.  Are you living your life EAGER?  Or are you just getting by.

E ngaged:  Are you engaged in something?  Are you engaged in your work, your business, your career, your health, etc.  I like to be around people and hire people who are engaged in something.  Engaged means committed.  I think we all know we should be engaged in our work, but are you engaged in something outside of work as well?  To use a slogan from the Army, “Are you being all that you can be?”

A ction Oriented:  I had a very successful business person who is a multi-millionaire many times over tell me something years ago that I have never forgotten.  He said when you are hiring someone, watch closely how fast they walk.  Do they walk with a purpose?  Or are they just kind of trudging along.  Over the years I have watched this and there is a lot of truth and fact around this.  Look around today and ask yourself, am I walking with a purpose or am I just trudging along?  Am I taking action on things or just floundering around.

G oal Oriented: We should all enjoy the moment and live in the moment and be present in the moment.  However, we should constantly be planning and thinking about the future as well.  We must set goals and establish milestones and benchmarks in our life that revolve around all of the most important pieces of life.  Such as career, family, health, spiritual, and financial.  I want to be around people who are EAGER about setting some big goals and going out and accomplishing them.

E xcellence: What is your attitude today?  What is your attitude most days?  Are you trying to learn all you can and realize all of your potential?  Or is it more of I can’t wait until the weekend so I can sleep and watch my favorite shows on NetFlix.  I think most people want to work hard and do the best they possibly can at work to do a great job.  But once they leave work they are not pursuing excellence in all areas of their life. Their health is not a top priority, they spend more than they make, they treat others poorly, or they don’t really care that much about anything of value. Are you committed to excellence in all areas of your life or just certain parts of it?

R esourceful: I love the definition of resourceful.  def: having the ability to find quick and clever ways to overcome difficulties.   The bottom line is we all face difficulties in our life.  Crap happens.  It is life.  How we deal with those difficulties is what makes all of the difference.  Today I want to challenge you to not say these worlds “It is what it is”.  I have said those words before as well.  I am challenging myself as well as you to not take the “it is what it is” approach and lets both of us make it “what we want it to be”.

Enthusiastic, intense, desirous, pumped, gong ho, impatient are words that describe the word EAGER.  The word impatient to some is negative, but I see it as positive in most cases.  Being impatient causes you to become eager and to take action.  So the question is are you EAGER?  Are you living your life in a way that displays that eagerness?

To your success and your future.