INCREASE!!!

As things were left, I had gotten into a fender-bender, failed an accounting test, and was denied my promotion… all in one week! Tough break huh? Well, I’m used to taking a beating to my pride, so once I took the weekend to get over the initial hurt, I focused up and drew up the following plan of attack:

1. Stay motivated/optimistic
2. Study the heck out of the material for the next test
3. Apply for another promotional role (I was still convinced I was well equipped for the more advanced position)

Now that I had the plan in place, it was time to get to work. I made sure I was on top of the material and set a goal to get a 100 on the final test. A lofty goal, sure, but I was motivated to do my best. I then applied for the position and secured an interview. I wasn’t nervous at all (instead of getting nervous, I became even more confident I was going to get this promotion) and knocked the interview out of the park.

This past Monday, my manager called me into his office. He informed me that the team of the previous position had reconsidered their decision and instead extended me an offer! What’s more, the new team came to a decision and wanted to extend an offer as well! I went from yesterday’s trash to today’s treasure in all of two weeks. Oh yeah, things were definitely going according to plan.

Today, I had my final test. I had studied feverishly over the past few days to make sure I was on top of the material, and there was a lot of it! However, the feeling I had walking into this test was totally different from how I felt walking into the last one. With the latter, I believed I knew the material. For this test though, I knew I knew the material. There was no doubt in my mind that I was going to ace this exam. So when I went in there and blew away that test, it came as no surprise to me. I don’t have the final grade yet, but I am 100% confident that my worst case scenario grade is an A-… and there’s a big chance I hit my goal of a perfect score.

As a major takeaway from this experience, note this: I knew what I wanted to do, I planned on how I was going to do it, and I executed that plan. I think that was key in achieving the level of success that I had this week. I didn’t quit or mope around for very long; as soon as the next week started, I was ready to get back to work on achieving success. Instead of succumbing to the natural feelings that come with failure, I did the exact opposite.  I fought hard, endured, and the end result was…

…INCREASE!!!