Just a Spoonful of Sugar

Several weeks ago I shared with you about a journey that began my relationship between us – Worx, you and me.

And it has been one amazing trip; every stumble that incurred, every stumble overrode, every cupcake and every 5k.

“I give it a year,” -Laura.

“I’ll take it!”-Momina

However, somewhere between that blog post and this one it happened: The performance review. The days leading up to it I somehow had convinced myself of every worse case scenario.

·      Your work is consistently overdue
·      Your work is inefficient
·      Your work is unsatisfactory
·      Your work is just not worxing

And, Lord, please no, do not let Donald Trump pop out from the minimalistic office space with comb-over  flying and finger pointing, “You’re fired!”

(Okay, that was never a fear of mine, but if you’re going to get fired, you might as well do it right.)

I took a notebook in the meeting but should I have taken a Kleenex box instead?

And call me a girl but I did cry, yet for different reasons.

I’m an addict of The Office and there are two kinds of employees in that show when it came to their performance reviews: Those trying to get promotions. And those trying to avoid the review altogether.

I didn’t want to avoid the review.

I didn’t want a promotion.

I wanted confirmation to my mental diatribe.

But ultimately I didn’t know what I needed.

Laura did. (Huh. Guess that’s why she’s my boss. My leader.)

You see, there’s a fine line between confidence and arrogance.

And, what I was lacking was confidence in my work.

·      My work was not overdue.
·      My work was not inefficient
·      My work was not unsatisfactory

It wasn’t about my worxing capabilities. It was about my confidence capabilities. And with a spoonful of sugar the medicine, the performance review, went down quite well. Quite well, indeed. And that began my confidence boost.

We all suffer from self-doubt and self- consciousness at some time in our lives:

It’s what we do with those insecurities that matter most.

• Step One: Own It – You have a skill set, so use it no matter what others may say about it. Even when you have doubts: Do it. Even when times are tough: Keep tackling it. Others may even see things in you that you cannot see for yourself.

• Step Two: Speak It – I went in my meeting and spoke the mental battle aloud. Confront what’s troubling you, and you are one step closer to defeating your doubts.

• Step Three: Critique It – Sometimes those concerns may be real; there’s always room for improvement. Medicine isn’t intended to change you; it’s intended to nourish and heal you.

• Step Four: Celebrate It – Whether it’s a high-five, a five-star review, a five-year anniversary or five consecutive days of being on time, accept the compliments. Accept client testimonies on your behalf and allow them to replace your self-doubt.

No matter your body type, the time of day or what your doctor says – a spoonful of sugar always helps the medicine go down. Some of us may just need a pinch, others a sip. Some need an entire cup, but no matter what just a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down.

Maybe I’m one of those that needed a cup, but I’m building my Vitamin C (confidence) deficiency back up.

And it’s feeling mighty supercalifragilisticexpialidcious!

I Give it a Year

I give it a year.

To many people this would seem like a negative thing; a phrase of most epically discouraging and disrespectful proportions; a cocky bet against a relationship, business – just a bad omen against any success.

To me it was five of the most encouraging words I could have heard while in my work place.

You see, being the new girl or guy is hard no matter what you know, where you are or whom you work for – even though I work for and with amazing people: Dynamic visionaries, acceptant of my quirks and qualms. Yes, I’m getting paid while I write this blog, but I’m not getting paid to write this blog. (See what I did there?)

So there I was, initiating a performance review – a stuffy, archaic choice of words compared to how Worx works, but that is how the corporate world recognizes this concept…

So I asked, how am I doing? I really wanted to know if, in over-dramatizing my resumé, was I also over promising my work? Sure, I didn’t say I could speak seven languages, was ambidextrous with my feet or I had the ability to levitate. However, I’m a writer, and that one sheet of paper was my chance to prove my creative linguistic abilities. So way back in October of 2013 I took the liberty of being creative.

Every day since Laura and I have been learning to understand and cultivate my written language, so it reflects the custom work and strategies Amber and Kassie establish. Thereafter I realized I got one thing right on my resume: A picture speaks a thousand words; a writer’s job is to find them. When I penned that I had not realized just how prophetic it would be, because now it was time to put that into effect.

I give it a year, she replied at that performance review. A year? I can do a year. I have plenty of those, I hope.

Here’s the gist of the conversation:

You’re getting there. Ask any of the girls, and they’ll tell you that it takes a good year to get to know the clients and to communicate with them, to communicate for them and to understand them and their brand. And to feel confident doing it.

According to my LinkedIn Profile, (my poor calculation capabilities are not to be trusted), I’m coming up on that year and as I look back, Laura’s right. Although I’m not surprised. I’m a self-deprecating woman, so I admit that I was hesitant to believe I’d have the gutsy (proud Green Couch product placement) to get to know the clients, communicate on their behalf and feel confident during the entire process.

Most importantly I’ve learned to refer to Worx in the first person, taking ownership of my identity among the Worx team.

Where I work, “Your big idea means as much to us as it does to you, which is why we create Visual Branding for Big Ideas…so, how can we make it Write For You?”

Well, here’s to many more years. Y’all are stuck with me now!