Think Long Term.

Think Long Term
by JCI Sen. Mennen Aracid
International Training Fellow

What do you want people to say about you when you leave JCI? If a retirement party were to be done in your honor, how do you want to be remembered? What messages do you want to hear from friends and loved ones? What qualities do you want to stand out the most? What kind of a person will you have become when you reach 40? Take note of these messages and ask yourself: What can I do today so that I become that person at 40? In a career development, there are predictable consequences for known behaviors. If your actions are consistent with certain principles, you get predictable results.Allow me to share with you five cause-and-effect relationships I have discovered and struggled with during my years with JCI:

BE EXCELLENT AT WHAT YOU DO
In little things or in big things, do your job the best way you can. When people see excellence in your work, they will ask more from you. When they do that, you get more involved and are given bigger responsibilities.
Excellence for me, means setting your own brand of training: fun, insightful and fresh. Try and think of new ways to engage your audience instead of using the same game from the last workshop you gave or attended. We all benefit from fresh perspective. If you offer that, people will seek you. When people seek you, be truly grateful for the opportunity to be excellent.

HOME AND WORK MATTER
Do your best to be excellent in your relationships. Be the best child to your parents. Be the best sibling. Be the best girlfriend, boyfriend or spouse. Be the best worker or executive. Be the best church or community member. Be the best JCI member, officer or trainer. Here is the challenge: How can you be that all at the same time? If the way you live your life is consistent, the roles that you play in life will complement each other and not compete. Try and seek the balance you need so that you don’t get accused of being the best JCI member and being the unreliable friend or executive.

SERVE ONE MASTER; ONE MASTER AT A TIME
From the start, examine your own personal intentions. In my own experience, I focused more on training and less on politics. For me, doing them at the same time is like serving two masters: I am likely to neglect one in favor of the other. Be excellent in one and do the other later if you want to pursue both. But please do not do one thing to push your chances on the other. I know people who paid dearly because they were in a hurry to do both.

BE LOYAL TO THE ABSENT
In a lot of instances, you will find yourself conducting training alone. Be the ambassador of your local organization or your national organization. Resist the temptation to talk about what is wrong about them. Talk about what works in your organization so people can also apply them in their own organizations. When you speak about ill about anyone, chances are, people will rightfully return your marks to the parties you talk about. How about many times has this come true?

IMPROVE THE STATUS QUO; DO NOT ATTACK IT
Build on what others have accomplished. Some people spend their best years building a legacy they can bequeath to the organization. Respect their legacy and build on it. The status quo is not bad. Its the best circumstance at a particular time. But it is not the best for all times. Building on the status qou allows you to find what is more relevant to the need of the times.

There are more rules I can name. But these five rules, in particular, are the ones I have personally struggled with. I admit that I may not be the best at what I do yet. But I have become a better person in my own right because I’ve struggled with these rules and did all I can to follow them.