Exclamation Points

Hey! Yeah, I’m talking to you. You know, the person who isn’t broken down and discouraged. I’m talking to the beautiful girl who has an incredible career, a hot husband, and the cutest two-year-old on the planet. I’m talking to the neighbor who lives in the best house on the street that has the BMW parked out front and the Lexus sitting in the garage. I’m talking to the young 28-year-old who just got named partner in their firm because they have worked their heart outputting in long hours and going the distance when everyone else was worried about “getting done.” I’m talking to the pastor who finally has every service packed and the ministry who is now full of generous people. The same one who is able to now drive a car with a sticker from the last five years, go on a vacation or two every year, and still has their passion for serving others and Jesus intact. YES! ALL OF YOU! This one's for you. YOU are killing it!

Too often, we live in a world that only encourages the non-starters and forgets the achievers. We spend most of our efforts encouraging those who are down and out; yet, we forget a whole population of people who are carrying them and us from point A to point B. In life, there are three types of people; question marks, periods, and exclamation points.

Question Marks

The people in your life that constantly require work. You are always chasing them down. You are always redirecting them. They take a lot of hours from your week and you rarely get an equivalent return on the investment. They forget everything that is not centered on themselves. They draw you in with their potential; but, they are rarely in the ballpark of where they should be. You see them as high capacity, but all they do is let you down. Every. Single. Time. You feel a sense of loyalty to them as you believe they are loyal to you. Truth is, they are only loyal to getting their needs met. You have played a large role in that all these years. Because of that, they keep coming back for more. You develop this relationship based on what you believe it once was and this causes you to miss what it actually is today. They make excuses, they always need an extension and when they do come through, it’s never what you even asked for in the first place. They are absent, dramatic, unavailable, inconsistent, and confusing. They always leave you with several questions.

Periods

These folks are just that; an ending. They are moving you nowhere, but they transition you somewhere. They are consistent, predictable, and oh so boring! While they are not lighting any fires, they are incredibly necessary. You see, periods provide a stopping point so that we don’t continue to run our thoughts together into oblivion. These are the people in your life who give you rest. They are the ones that keep you grounded. They provide sound advice, they make you double check your structure and they keep things in order. They do exactly as you ask and only what you ask. They are polite and kind. They stand firm in their position. You know where they belong, they know where they belong and everyone is comfortable and content.

Exclamation Points!

Rockstars. Invaluable. Pioneers. Innovators. Movers. Shakers. Underappreciated. Under-discussed. Overly Expected. Overlooked. If we want to continue to create successful lifestyles, we must cultivate the successful people in our lives. You never have to worry about an exclamation point. They are driven, prepared, they fill in the gaps, they are fun, they are talented, and they look fantastic doing it. These are the people that we know will show up to every scheduled event. Not only will they show up, they help plan it, show up early to set up, enjoy every minute, stay to clean up, lock the doors, and post about it when they get home to create excitement for the next time. They are generous, faithful, passionate, fiery, and different. Yet, we NEVER talk about them. And because of this, we are always devastated when they accept another amazing opportunity across town or on the other side of the country. We scramble to fill their place when they get promoted or start a new business. We count down the days to their return while they are on vacation. This shows ever so true when the first thing we do when they get back is fill them in on everything they’ve missed instead of letting them fill us in on what they’ve experienced.

You see, there will always be the three types of people. It’s not so much about who we have, but instead how we mobilize them. Our natural tendency is to attack the problem until we stomp it out. That causes us to spend an immense amount of time on the question marks, the wrong type of attention gets placed to the exclamation points and the periods get lost. This has to change.

Imagine what you could achieve and the culture you would create if we shifted our thinking from constantly reaching down to the bottom, to encouraging up at the top. By empowering the exclamation points and supporting their abilities to perform well, we activate the intrinsic motivation system. They develop a self-fulfillment that becomes infectious. This causes them to begin to activate this in others as well. Not only do they need to be empowered, they also must be appreciated and valued. They need to know that you are interested in who they are and you value what they can do.

Exclamation points also need encouraged. Simply because they aren’t breaking down and struggling publically, does not mean that they don’t need a high five, a "job well done," or a "you are awesome," or public acknowledgment of something great they’ve done. Shout outs go a long way; but, please know your audience. Do what they need, not what you think they want.

So to all my exclamation points out there, keep on keeping on! I see you. You are appreciated, you are valued and I thank you for keeping this world spinning. You’ve got it going on and you should be proud. Keep working hard and take others with you.