Be the best in your field instead of pleasing people for favours

I once hurt my back and had to see a surgeon. The number of hours spent at the orthopedic surgeon’s was not exciting. I got to his office and requested the earliest appointment.

“Oh, he doesn’t work on appointments,” came the matter-of-factly reply from his lovely assistant.

“Well, when do you expect him?”

“Anytime from 2pm unless he is delayed by hospital rounds. Take a number. You are twelfth on the queue.” Wow!

The 11 ahead of me were patiently reading magazines, talking or texting on their phones. Some had legs propped up on stool, others were on wheelchairs, others were lying down and the rest sat looking more depressed than I was beginning to feel.

Twelfth on the queue? What do I do? No, the more appropriate question was: what could I do? I’m in pain. I feel my back throbbing and the physiotherapist had sternly warned me to stay off the ticking back. I took that to mean that I had to heed his counsel or else....

Do I request the lovely lady to pencil me into the next hour because I am in pain or just let her know I need a more available doctor because I need one ASAP?

Looking at her knowingly studying my thoughts from my facial expression, I can tell I would get an “I am sorry that is the doctor’s current schedule” and a swift shift to her next task.

The doctor runs his clinic his (note the emphasis) way. If you don’t like it, join medical school, do it differently, run a better clinic and best wishes.

Meanwhile, join the queue and wait. The word ‘patient’ takes its literal meaning. And you thought you understood the word, didn’t you?

What’s your line of work? If you serve a different type of clientele, I bet you have a bit more time on your hands — not that it is all available for business but you have it.

When I started out as an overzealous entrepreneur, I did not know that. An evasive client would request a 7am meeting deep inside Industrial Area, expecting me to decline and I would agree to it.

I thought I was being nimble. The early bird catches the worm, right? Dead wrong. Meeting the client at his convenience, huh? I did this a few times only to find out that the client was “stuck in traffic but was on his way!”

And that would be a cell phone text message well past the 7am. The bending over backwards we do to win clients, get jobs or rise through the ranks is ridiculous! It is no wonder that my back is hurting.

In retrospect, I put myself through all that to please a client who had no intention of being available in the first place. This is an unrivalled formula for a chaotic schedule and a life completely out of control.

I am confident that is not what you want. You want to think through your schedule and decide the periods you choose to make available for business and which ones are sacred and out of bounds.

Go ahead and put up an Mbwa Kali sign on a block of hours out of your 24 for good measure. You owe it to yourself and you owe no one an explanation about your choices, you know.

You only need to bear in mind that such privileges come with responsibility. You must stick to the schedule.

If that sounds crazy, go on, try it. I know for sure that a predetermined schedule brings order to your life. You remain cool, calm and collected in any situation because you have a solid life plan.

You make decisions rationally and your schedule stops running away with you because you run it. It keeps you from running around like a headless chicken trying unsuccessfully to accommodate everybody’s unreasonable demands on your time.

Busy doctor

Do you think the doctor felt any pressure to “fit” my aching back or those miserable fellow patients’ bone issues in his schedule? Nah. The doctor does not even speak with you. You talk to his assistant and if you don’t like it, we can jolly well find another doctor.

They do not spend many years of studying for nothing. Let patients learn from them. I am not suggesting that you drop everything and enrol yourself into medical school.

Your goal is to live your life operating at your very best. This is a suggestion to allow yourself time, space and serenity of mind for exactly that.

The secret in this is that you must quit worrying about which client, job or promotion you get and which one you lose.

The fact is that, however, good you are, you cannot have them all. All you need to do is be the best there is in your chosen field.

It tips the scale from you chasing after them to them queuing patiently waiting for you because there is no other like you. Trust me on this.
Any good educator will tell you the very same thing.

Ms Ruligirwa-Kamara is an expert in attitude and human potential. Email: [email protected]