To begin with, I am bad at lots of things. I always seem to take longer to "get it", and I absolutely insist on learning most of my lessons the hard way. Knowing that about myself is a good thing. It allows me to better plan for improvement and the inevitable failure in life that we all face. Well since I openly struggle, why am I writing a blog to try and help others improve? Did I mention I learn lessons the hard way? I do that a lot. Lessons learned the hard way are still lessons learned. I want to share the gritty details of failure so maybe others skip a few of their own hard lessons. I have a specific path I am taking in life. That path has two rules so far. One, always tells the truth, and two, work to get incrementally better at something every day.
I am the CEO of a medium-sized business. I started as an entry-level employee and worked my way to my current position over the past decade. It has been very challenging at times, but very rewarding as well. I have gone from having no idea what I want in life to having tentative one, five, ten, and twenty-year plans. In the beginning I want to stick closely to personal productivity and motivation. From there the road forks and we will have to decide what is next when the time comes. That doesn’t mean I won't jump from one topic to the next. The only commitment I am making is consistency. I will try to post something on a regular schedule and build on larger concepts one piece at a time.
As I learn from this experience I will try to share on twitter (@charlieyielding). I am anxious and fearful of posting this type of ideology because I don't want any of my ideas to have a negative impact on my personal and professional life. As a CEO I have very specific ideas on how much someone in my position should make in relation to their employees, and profit margin doesn’t matter as much to me as the futures of the people I work with (although it is still very important). That may sound innocuous, but it is by no means popular in mainstream business so keep that perspective in mind as we go.
P.S. Writing is not my forte, I know that. If you would like to give constructive feedback, reach out on twitter.
- Charlie Yielding