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Be Bothered!
by Robyn Campbell // Director // CAMPBELL & DEAN MANAGEMENT CONSULTING

What are some of the mantras, you live by? Maybe you just have one. My favourite is - ‘Be Bothered’. It is amazing how many times I use it to assist people through my consulting work – or repeat it to myself for motivation when I think ‘I can’t be bothered!’.

In professional life it might be that on a cold, wintry night a function suddenly looks just too hard to reach through the traffic or on public transport – or perhaps you think you won’t know anyone attending, that it could be even a bit stressful or not worth your effort. Momentarily you might think you can’t be bothered going…….Stop right there! Think again. Be Bothered! With a positive attitude I have never attended a seminar or function where I haven’t thought ‘I’m glad I went to that’. Usually I have met someone interesting, heard a new idea, or just simply enjoyed visiting a beautiful building. Sometimes there has even been an unexpected business opportunity.

Or perhaps you may be working on some advice or a paper and there are more references to scour or more inquiries to make and you think to yourself, ‘I just can’t be bothered, there won’t be anything else’. Red Alert! Be Bothered! How often does bothering to make that final effort, or going that extra yard, reap rewards or bring up something you really should have included? Often.

In personal life, equally, it seems to be certain kinds of events that test motivation and enthusiasm depending on your personality and state of mind. Yet again, if you put a smile on your face and make an effort to get up and go to a wider array of events or experiences than you might do normally, you will always hear a new story, learn a new fact, meet a new person – or simply have a laugh. It can be worth being bothered and you might just enjoy yourself.
When you think of some of the phrases your parents or older relations and friends used to say to you that turn out to be wise words, you probably now find yourself repeating them. It is amazing how true some, if not most, turn out to be. Ever the optimist, my father used to always say when there had been a disappointment, “When one door closes, another will open”. That is so true, and inevitably that is what happens. Sometimes, of course, that involves making a bit of effort to open whatever door is being presented to you. It comes back to your attitude to life really.

True also, “Many hands make light work”, “One good turn deserves another”, “Laugh and the Whole World Laughs with You”. That last one resonates especially after a recent chat with a very quiet neighbour who told me she loves the laughing she hears when I have visitors. She said she opens her windows to hear the laughter and this makes her laugh too! What a lovely compliment!

So, Be Bothered. If a work colleague asks you to collaborate on a project, or something flickers your interest, investigate further. Be Bothered. Learn something new. Connect with someone new with a different view of life. Be open to trying new things, going somewhere you haven’t been before or repeating something you have already done before and getting a fresh perspective. You never know where a path will lead you if you simply make a little extra effort. Be Bothered!

© Campbell & Dean Management Consulting

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