“Things turn out best for people who make the best out of how things turn out.” – John Wooden John Wooden shared this gem in his book, Wooden. These sixteen words sum up the reason for developing a positive attitude and a contingency plan. It’s not enough to have one or the other. You need both. My Internet went out last night. After an hour on the phone with an Indian technical support rep and numerous remote repair attempts, we agreed to an 8:30 – 12:30 repair window appointment this morning. So I planned my day accordingly. At 8:28 am AT&T (that master of interpersonal communication…NOT) sent me a text showing my appointment would be between 1-4 pm. Ten minutes of following the text to their appointment website left me more frustrated as there was nowhere to change the time, just the problem. After ten minutes on the phone with another “I am SO sorry for your inconvenience” Indian support rep, the appointment was changed back to the original time. So what do you do when your computer isn’t working, and your day has been thrown a loop? I decided to use this time to research alternatives to AT&T and call several business contacts that I hadn’t touched base with for a few months. Stephen Covey calls such activities IMPORTANT BUT NOT URGENT. Relationship building and planning always yield a more productive future. Without the positive attitude, I would have called these folks and immediately launched into my Internet service problem. Just what they needed! Without my plan D, I would have forgotten to look for a better use of my time than many of the UNIMPORTANT NON URGENT activities that computer access allows us to choose. So thank you John Wooden and Stephen Covey for reminding me “Things turn out best for people who make the best of how things turn out!” PS – Blogging works pretty well too:)! PSS – At 12:02 I got a call from AT&T asking if I wanted to reschedule. I had spent the morning upstairs waiting for the service technician and the caller told me their rep came by and couldn’t get access. All doors and the garage were open, and I never received the 15-minute advance text or call. So now I am sitting here hoping to get on the next 4-hour block and re-reading this blog to help me regain my Wooden/Covey form!! PSSS – 4:45pm – The service tech arrived and in 10 minutes determined it was an outside AT&T line problem. “If you could have scheduled your appointment this morning, we could have fixed the problem by now. If ‘they’ don’t respond by noon day after tomorrow (Saturday), you need to call again.” I just smiled. It’s time for a nice long bike ride!
Why you need John Wooden and Stephen Covey!
Updated: Feb 1