Commentary -- Knowing what is important helps achieve what matters most

  • Published
  • By Lt. Col. Jon Robinson
  • 71st Logistics Readiness Squadron commander
VANCE AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  To quote Stephen Covey, who makes great business tools, "How different our lives are when we really know what is deeply important to us, and, keeping that picture in mind, we manage ourselves each day to be and do what really matters most."

To this southeast Missouri boy, what mattered most to me during grade school was to be kind to others, including my younger sister, not to curse, work hard, and help mom around the house. Since then, as expected, my priorities have changed based off of life experiences and values instilled by my parents and further reinforced by my wonderful wife.

Whether what is necessary to us as human beings is being trustworthy, demonstrating integrity, compassion for others, love for our country, dedication to duty or other characteristics we find desirable, I've found it's important to make it a point to pause every so often and reflect on our motivations.

Case in point:

My wife recently called a local lawn maintenance company for service and was told by the owner he could trim our lawn Friday or Saturday. Come Saturday evening, my grass was still "knee high."

A phone call to the lawn company evoked an apology and revealed the lawn crews ran out of time doing other lawns and would have to wait till Monday to service our yard since they don't normally work on Sunday.

While arriving home from a delicious "First-Sunday Chapel Meal" at the Community Chapel Activity Center on base, we pull into the driveway and to our surprise, our lawn is being mowed by the lawn care company owner himself and several helpers.

After the yard was complete, we graciously thanked him for the nice surprise and paid him on the spot. Obviously, we're sticking with him and his company because he cares about customer satisfaction and maintaining a good reputation.

My dad, who was a locksmith on the side, had that motivation for maintaining a good reputation. When I was growing up, he would get phone calls at late hours of the night from people locked out of their houses or vehicles. He responded to each one faithfully, not grumbling, but accepting his occupation and the efforts required to maintain a good reputation.

Dad enjoyed running his locksmithing business, despite the sometimes odd hours. That brings to mind a quote from Henry David Thoreau. "Do not hire a man who does your work for money, but him who does it for love of it."

Your work is always more enjoyable and satisfying if you love what you're doing and gain satisfaction from seeing the results of your labor. We owe it to ourselves and others to always give our best in all we do.

The results will come in many forms, the most important being the success people achieve through our mentoring.

Mentoring is a great way to pass along wisdom and life-experiences to junior members to help prepare them for what lies ahead. Make it a point, as part of your profession, to mentor others for success in their lives.

Three things to remember that will serve you well in your professional journey:

-- Know what is deeply important to you and your organization.
-- Reexamine your priorities on a regular basis.
-- Take care of yourself and those around you.