I learned a hard lesson from my Dad.
I was 13, and I had a job to do.
It was to mow the lawn, and mow the lawn well.
We had agreed at the beginning of summer that he would pay me $20 each time I mowed and trimmed the yard (2 Acres).
On a particular Friday, our family was headed on a camping trip, so my Dad wanted the lawn mowed before we left town.
I remember going to the YMCA that day and playing basketball with my friends. I was having so much fun I forgot that I had to mow.
On my bike ride home, I finally did remember that I needed to mow. But now, my time was limited!
It usually took a full 2 hours to mow the lawn, and now I only had about an hour and a half.
So I rushed. I had the tractor in the fastest mode possible. I cut every corner, literally. I skipped all the trimming as well, but I did get the lawn mowed.
My stupid 13 year old self figured my Dad would never notice that I rushed to get it done. I assumed he would just see that the lawn was mowed and head on our trip.
I was absolutely wrong!!
My Dad got home, parked his truck, and immediately yelled "NEAL!" in a tone that you knew was not good....
By literally cutting the corners and mowing the yard so fast, I had left dandelions all over the yard. There were even small strips of uncut grass with dandelions sticking right out.
Why I thought he wouldn't notice, I have no clue. It was so very apparent that I had done a tremendously terrible job mowing the lawn.
My Dad was fuming and said he was deducting my pay $1 for every dandelion he could count. He walked the entire length of the yard, me walking step for step with him, and counted all the dandelions left in the yard.
When we were done he told me that I actually OWED him $25 for the lawn I just mowed!!
I mowed the lawn the next week with no payment, and the week after that I still did not receive the full amount because of my earlier mistake.
My lesson learned:
1 - Don't cut corners, literally or figuratively.
I think this can come in many forms in life. Sometimes it is in meetings, are you fully present? Sometimes this comes when you are taking professional education courses, have you set aside your work to deeply engage in the content?
Week 12 of 52
Comments