Jan 23 – Inner Resiliency
Cheetah Certified Project Manager (CCPM) Tip of the Day
You have amazing powers to achieve your goals when you learn to tap into all your resources.
Jan 23 – Setbacks are those things in life that test your resolve to achieve your goals. When you persevere despite setbacks, you develop the inner resiliency required to go for it.
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Michelle LaBrosse, PMP
The stories you remember and repeat are what get wired into your brain as the way you operate. To improve your inner resiliency, learn to tell stories of how you overcame adversity to persevere. One of my favorite stories is how I earned the nickname “Betty the Bureaucracy Buster.”
I was building a home outside of Seattle, Washington in the mid 90’s. At 8 AM, the day after the sale on our existing home went through, the county “red flagged” our project. That means they forced us to halt construction. They claimed our construction project was responsible for a cloud of run-off into a nearby stream. Furthermore, they said they did not have the resources to come back and evaluate if we had properly remediated the problem for two weeks.
This would not do. So I packed up the toddlers (my children were 2 and 4 at the time) and we made the 25 mile drive to the property with camera in hand. (We did not have digital cameras back then but there were one-hour photo stores). I fully documented it was a county road improvement project causing the run-off into the stream, NOT our construction project. By noon, I had the pictures in hand. The girls and I had a quick lunch and went over to the county building permit office. Lucky for us, the inspector who had red flagged the project was in his office and he agreed to see me. It was now getting close to the toddlers’ nap time. And they proceeded to do what fussy, tired, and cranky toddlers can do. While the inspector and I went over the pictures that clearly showed which project was causing the run off, the girls managed to find their way into all types of very interesting things in his office. I let him know that I would be back there every day with more evidence until he saw his way to removing his “red flag” and allow us to continue our building project. Not being able to miss the chaos ensuing in his office with the tired toddlers, he realized just who he was up against.
We were able to restart construction on our house the next day, thanks to quick action, documentation, and timing. The seasoned carpenter helping us build the house said, “Lady, I need you on all my jobs – you are like Betty the Bureaucracy Buster.”
Never underestimate the power of your own creativity using the resources you have at hand – even if they are only 2 and 4 years old. Want to learn how to make your own projects happen no matter what is thrown at you? Check out www.cheetahcertifiedpm.com
