President Message

President’s Thoughts

by Mike Norris

Greetings,

I hope this finds you all doing well. As my “Presidential Theme,” I have chosen the concept of “You bring about what you think about.” And the importance of a positive attitude and helping yourself achieve goals and dreams.

Thomas Jefferson is credited with saying, “Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goals; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.” Michael Jordan – “My attitude is that if you push me towards something that you think is a weakness, then I will turn that perceived weakness into a strength.”

How is this applicable in our industry? Let’s assume you are challenging a state exam. You have asked co-workers about the difficulty of the exam, and the consensus opinion is that the exam was both challenging and difficult. That seed of doubt and uncertainty is planted in your mind, and already you are preparing to just squeak by or for your retest.

Perhaps the question you should have asked your co-workers is, how much did you prepare? How much personal effort did you give? What was your routine for preparation? What type of study material did you use?

True story – An operator was preparing for the A exam. He studied some, reviewed questions at the end of chapters in several manuals, and planned on spending the evening before the exam cramming and studying. This operator went to a sports bar/restaurant for dinner, where he bumped into an old friend. One drink leads to another and another. Before he knew it, the bar was announcing “last call,” and they were too deep into a great buzz, so they had one more for the road. He walked back to the hotel, and as soon as he lay across the bed, he went to sleep. Luckily, he had set the alarm on his phone. Powering through a substantial hangover, he went to challenge the exam. How do you think this operator performed on the state exam? Let’s just say he was successful on his retest.

Perhaps you are being considered for a promotion. Your attitude can be either, what can I do to prepare for the challenges of the promotion, or they will more than likely give it to someone else. You can seek out another supervisor who, like you, worked their way up through the ranks and seek advice. You can assume you will be overlooked, and your work performance can suffer. You can develop a sour attitude. You can make the working environment difficult. You become frustrated and leave the industry. Which road will you choose?

What if life is about choices? What if we travel down a road, and every major decision is like a fork in the road? Either path is available, and either path has a different reality. We choose the left path (as it relates to exams), and because we decided not to study and prepare, we find the exams and job advancements a struggle. If we choose the right path at the fork, we have a good attitude. We develop a good work ethic. We truly study and prepare for the exams. We seek a mentor. We put forth the necessary personal effort in all our challenges. We do not allow anyone to outwork us. We become, by industry standards, “successfully.” Which path have you chosen?

Albert Einstein – “Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character.”

Don’t forget that live in-person Regional Training events begin in Amarillo on April 4th, 2022.

I pray that 2022 brings you good health, blessings, prosperity, and purpose.

TWUA President Mike Norris