I've been having one of those moments where one steps back and goes "okay, God, I get it. You've sent me a billion signs by now. Pfft!" Yes, that was the point where I'd stick my tongue out at him!
So, this past Monday I had a meeting with my boss at maurices. She had heard it through the grapevine that I was considering leaving the company and was highly concerned to this end. (I had, coincidentally, deterred from this at the time and was a bit upset at my co-worker's decision to betray my confidence in her.) We discussed things a bit (I'm not going to bore with the details as it was a LONG conversation. Fantastic--but long.) and she ended up saying this:
"Whitney, I think you're good at a lot of things. I've told you this before and I'll continue telling you this: you're an asset to the company. You are going to do great things for maurices as long as you'll let us use you. That said, even though you're doing 100 different things that you're absolutely fantastic at, what happens is you find that ONE thing you're not good at and obsess on it. I think that's our problem here..."
The one good thing I'm not good at in reference to maurices is selling the card. It's a definite weakness and drives me absolutely bonkers. I seriously stay up some nights just because I can't sleep just thinking about it. I don't know what about it is that bothers me. I don't have a problem selling clothes by any means. My average customer usually buys more than three items and spends about $60 per visit (according to my stats for the past six months...). I think what it is that hinders me is that when I'm working with a customer and picking out an outfit, I'm actually helping them. We don't get commission, so it's my helping them feel and look good that's my goal. But when it comes to the card? Subconsciously, I start listing out all the problems with credit cards in the back of my head. And then it feels like a negative thing and I HATE being a negative influence on people's lives.
So, with those doubts, I just simply don't do it. Which is an incredibly negative thing, because maurices puts a lot of pressure on their stores to do well in producing credit card applications. And it's because I suck at selling the card that my working experience is totally miserable. So, Bobby took me through this whole exercise of listing everything I do for the company... like my fantastic stats, advertising, connection with college students (I'm the freakin' youngest on the team. Why oh why can't I EVER be the oldest at anything?!)... and it actually came out way more positive than not.
Then I applied that mindset to the rest of my life. Sometimes, I feel terrible about myself because I feel like I'm totally worthless. But maybe it's my focusing on one thing that makes everything so negative. People can't be good at everything, right? It'd be totally boring!
I don't think I was always this way... I have some very fond memories of back in high school when my younger sister started above me. I was a JV starter, but Kelsey had the varsity jersey. It was definitely a rough time for me, but I came to better understand my role in life and certain things like sportmanship, leadership, and character. I got more compliments during that time on who I was as a person than any other time in my life. And here I was a totally volleyball loser!
And then there was senior year when I was doing pretty fantastically at track. But midway through the season, my track coach changed things up on me and I ended up quitting because I thought it was unethical. I couldn't participate on the team when I felt in my heart the way she did things was wrong. So, there I was, giving up my one chance to finally impress my father in sports (something that he's ALWAYS placed a lot of emphasis on).
Somewhere along the lines I accidentally allowed myself to become a perfectionist. I don't think I did it on purpose... I think it may just be that I finally got used to being good at things and it felt really good to have that affirmed. Especially after a time when I didn't think my Dad loved me quite as much as my siblings because of the whole sports issue. The direct result of the sports complex was the 31 on my ACT. I felt like I had to do something to win his love.
Maybe now that I'm aware of it, I'll allow myself to let it go easier. It's not going to stop me from trying to improve on it, but it may provide me with enough confidence to include the positive in my line of thinking.
"Hi, I'm Whitney, and I absolutely suck at." Not so bad, eh?
Gotta jetset back into the real world now! Peace Out.
So, this past Monday I had a meeting with my boss at maurices. She had heard it through the grapevine that I was considering leaving the company and was highly concerned to this end. (I had, coincidentally, deterred from this at the time and was a bit upset at my co-worker's decision to betray my confidence in her.) We discussed things a bit (I'm not going to bore with the details as it was a LONG conversation. Fantastic--but long.) and she ended up saying this:
"Whitney, I think you're good at a lot of things. I've told you this before and I'll continue telling you this: you're an asset to the company. You are going to do great things for maurices as long as you'll let us use you. That said, even though you're doing 100 different things that you're absolutely fantastic at, what happens is you find that ONE thing you're not good at and obsess on it. I think that's our problem here..."
The one good thing I'm not good at in reference to maurices is selling the card. It's a definite weakness and drives me absolutely bonkers. I seriously stay up some nights just because I can't sleep just thinking about it. I don't know what about it is that bothers me. I don't have a problem selling clothes by any means. My average customer usually buys more than three items and spends about $60 per visit (according to my stats for the past six months...). I think what it is that hinders me is that when I'm working with a customer and picking out an outfit, I'm actually helping them. We don't get commission, so it's my helping them feel and look good that's my goal. But when it comes to the card? Subconsciously, I start listing out all the problems with credit cards in the back of my head. And then it feels like a negative thing and I HATE being a negative influence on people's lives.
So, with those doubts, I just simply don't do it. Which is an incredibly negative thing, because maurices puts a lot of pressure on their stores to do well in producing credit card applications. And it's because I suck at selling the card that my working experience is totally miserable. So, Bobby took me through this whole exercise of listing everything I do for the company... like my fantastic stats, advertising, connection with college students (I'm the freakin' youngest on the team. Why oh why can't I EVER be the oldest at anything?!)... and it actually came out way more positive than not.
Then I applied that mindset to the rest of my life. Sometimes, I feel terrible about myself because I feel like I'm totally worthless. But maybe it's my focusing on one thing that makes everything so negative. People can't be good at everything, right? It'd be totally boring!
I don't think I was always this way... I have some very fond memories of back in high school when my younger sister started above me. I was a JV starter, but Kelsey had the varsity jersey. It was definitely a rough time for me, but I came to better understand my role in life and certain things like sportmanship, leadership, and character. I got more compliments during that time on who I was as a person than any other time in my life. And here I was a totally volleyball loser!
And then there was senior year when I was doing pretty fantastically at track. But midway through the season, my track coach changed things up on me and I ended up quitting because I thought it was unethical. I couldn't participate on the team when I felt in my heart the way she did things was wrong. So, there I was, giving up my one chance to finally impress my father in sports (something that he's ALWAYS placed a lot of emphasis on).
Somewhere along the lines I accidentally allowed myself to become a perfectionist. I don't think I did it on purpose... I think it may just be that I finally got used to being good at things and it felt really good to have that affirmed. Especially after a time when I didn't think my Dad loved me quite as much as my siblings because of the whole sports issue. The direct result of the sports complex was the 31 on my ACT. I felt like I had to do something to win his love.
Maybe now that I'm aware of it, I'll allow myself to let it go easier. It's not going to stop me from trying to improve on it, but it may provide me with enough confidence to include the positive in my line of thinking.
"Hi, I'm Whitney, and I absolutely suck at
Gotta jetset back into the real world now! Peace Out.
posted by Whit at 10:24 AM
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