by Dawn Homa
We’re all tired. Tired of what the next “crisis” will be… Tired of dealing with material delays… Tired of prices going up every day… Tired of being ghosted by applicants… Tired of social media… Tired of the news… and tired of the anger and angst in the world.
There was a survey that came out asking how often do you text, email, or call a customer. And it made me realize that I’m really tired of being on and available 24/7 just to make everyone happy. Aren’t you?
What I’m discovering is having real human interaction gets me energized. Calling a customer not to sell them something, not to talk business, but to see how they are really doing? What’s going on in their life? I was so energized last week when I was driving out of my neighborhood and one of my neighbors flagged me down. She said “I haven’t seen you in a while… How are you doing?’. I pulled off to the side of the road and we talked for a half-hour. Talked about everything except the craziness in the world right now. And it was uplifting.
So, I passed that on and called my local Chamber President. I asked her “how are you really doing? You have to be on and be happy all the time. Are you OKAY?”. And then we had a 20-minute conversation. At the end of it, they said… “thank you so much for caring”.
Caring… When did we stop caring about others? Since 2020 I feel like I’ve been on “high alert” just to keep my business running. Trying to be one step ahead of the next “disaster”. It’s been exhausting. And as humans… we are not wired to function on “high alert” 24/7.
What is the answer? I don’t know… But I do know I’m ignoring calls after 6 pm and on weekends. Reducing the time on social media and stopping watching the news.
What will I do with all this time? The things I love… walking my dogs, spending time with my Donkeys, and reading books that aren’t business-oriented. Travel again and meet people and see new places. Invite people over and just talk about what’s really important… And laugh again, really laugh and enjoy the human connection. And just start Caring again.