This is a true story about “Amy” who just happens to be one of my heroes.
Amy has had a lot to overcome in her life. She was married to a soldier and as that vocation usually demands, they moved to a new state and city where she knew no one. Happily she became pregnant. When her husband returned from overseas, he informed her that he didn’t love her, divorced her, moved back to her home town and left her stranded with a baby and not enough money to move herself back to family.
Amy found daycare and got a job in payroll.
She did not make payroll mistakes. If there was an error in the payroll, it never came from her batch of work. Never. And she defended her perfect record as fiercely as a mama bear defending her cubs. You see, Amy understood that she was protecting more than her reputation – she was protecting her ability to care for her child.
Amy was slowly promoted and finally (deservingly) became the manager over payroll. Her mission stayed the same – run payroll with as few mistakes as possible. And she did. When 1,200 annual increases came in late and she had less than 2 days to get them entered, her team did it.
Amy had just gotten through one of those rough patches of last-minute payroll changes when she came into my office. We talked about the stress of what she was doing and then “it“ happened. She told me something that no one else knew and it changed me. She swore me to secrecy and I have never repeated it, until today.
Amy said, “Alicia, do you know why this is so hard on me?”
I replied, “Amy, I think anyone would understand what you’re dealing with right now.”
The look on her face clearly indicated that I didnt’ have a clue. She shook her head and with a deep breath said, “Alicia, I am dyslexic.”
Imagine with me for a moment, being a young, abandoned mother desperate for work with a severe learning issue. The only job you are offered is to work in a department which requires continuous precision and accuracy. And you take it. You struggled through high school because your mind switched numbers, letters and words; the only diagnosis that existed then was “stupid.” But you still take the job. And you work long hours, hours off the clock, hours at home, to double and triple check your work to make sure there are no mistakes. And you do this day after day, for years.
The Amy Challenge
As business owners, it’s easy to get stuck in all the reasons why something can’t be done.
- I don’t have enough time.
- I’m wearing too many hats.
- The economy is bad.
- I’m under-funded.
- I’m not educated.
- My spouse doesn’t support me.
- There is too much competition.
There are times that we are barely able to survive the sea-sickness of the natural ups and downs of business. We’re doing good to stay afloat, much less get ourselves unstuck. But get unstuck you must! Or your business will succumb to the fate of Davey Jone’s locker.
The “experts” told Amy she would never find a job that paid well because her learning disability was too limiting. But she knew what was most important in her life and she pushed herself to make it happen. There was no obstacle bigger than her determination to care for her child.
May I challenge you to be like Amy? Decide what is most important to you and allow that to fuel your determination to tear through the challenges in front of you.
What is your important thing?
Photo courtesy of orphanjones via Flickr.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Alicia,
Another compelling story! And, two words really surface in my mind while reading this: Resilience and Tenacity.
Go Amy!
Jacqui
Awesome story and great lesson, Alicia!
Also add ‘purpose’ to Jacqui’s list. As a single mom, she had a profound sense of purpose, a why, that helped motivate her, guide her, and guide her focused.
Jacqui & Krista – great descriptions! You’re right Krista, Amy had a profound sense of purpose. Perhaps one of the reasons we get stuck is because we haven’t defined our “why” or our “why” is not important enough.