Holly is a smart kid, but she’s not interested in “applying herself.”
She reminds me of my dad, who once said,
Never let anyone know how much you can do, otherwise they’ll expect you to do it.
Do you think that’s ever a good strategy?
April 5, 2015
Underachievers
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pretty much sums it up!
give them an inch and they will take a mile…
Yes, don’t do things to impress other people, do it because of our own inner desire, if we have one.
I am in total agreement with your father. As a leader of men once upon many moons ago, I used to tell my team to under-promise and over-deliver. That has stood the test of time. And I am a living example of slack.
I had great faith that you would agree. Yay, Rummuser, and my dad! And Wally in Dilbert — Andy’s and my hero.
I do think it’s a good strategy sometimes. When you show your smarts, people start leaning on you to do stuff that you might not wish to do. I prefer to choose my undertakings – not to have them foisted upon me.
It’s hard to say no sometimes, unless you’re already saying yes to something more important. It took me a long time to learn to say no (hopefully) graciously.
your dad hit the nail right on the head. my head.
at the library i did all the personnel processing of papers… took care of 2 assistants to the dean… and was personal secretary to the dean’s first assistant.
they nearly ran me to ground. i quit.
found out later they had hired 2 people to replace me.
he’s absolutely right. and the pay wasn’t great either.
sometimes i think it’s a matter of how much we value ourselves.
i was a new widow back in the work force.
i felt lucky just to HAVE a job!!!
Experience and self-confidence help a lot, but it takes time to develop them. We can’t beat ourselves up for the learning process. Hopefully your experience on the job helped you eventually get a better one.
Yes. People often don’t respect others and have unreasonable expectations.
Again, we need to learn to set boundaries.
Wow…. this one has thrown me for a loop.
I’m surprised.
This has REALLY got me to thinking.
I mean, this must be my problem.
I have always gone the extra mile.
In my work environments I have automatically picked up the slack and felt very guilty if I didn’t do so.
I just have always thought this was the right way to be and if I held back, I felt both lazy and dishonest.
But just recently my own sister said to me that this team playing shit was a trap. Just to get more work out of you for less money and that I was foolish to be one.
Again, Wow. I need to really think about this.
It’s too bad, but sometimes people will take advantage of those team players who are quick to help. Yuck!