The Exceptional Exception

Respect the rules but leave a little room for exceptions

We succeed in our personal and professional lives when we set goals and then create habits that move us toward our goals. These habits help us alter our current thoughts or feelings so that we can implement delayed gratification and undertake activities now that will result in us reaching our goals later. These habits generally have rules surrounding them that we put in place to overcome our own human frailties when we may want to sleep in instead of working out, play video games instead of making our sales calls, or watch television instead of doing our homework. These rules can be powerful tools to serve us, but we cannot allow them to become our master. 
 

There are exceptions to virtually every rule, including the one I just stated. The challenge that faces us all is when should we allow ourselves an exception to a rule we have established.  Many years ago, I met the world’s greatest salesman, Joe Girard.  He was actually listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the top salesman in the world.  Joe Girard wrote a transformational book entitled, How to Sell Anything to Anybody.
 
Many entrepreneurs, marketers, and sales people devoured Joe Girard’s book and began implementing his methods. Unfortunately for many people seeking success, in a small otherwise insignificant section of the book, Mr. Girard described that some days he would wake up and simply not feel like selling that day. He knew his efforts would be fruitless, so he would go and spend that day on his yacht. Even though he described in his book that this would only happen one or two days per year, many of his readers used Joe Girard’s words as an excuse to not follow the habits and rules they had established to reach their success goals. 
 
Many years ago, I made a decision and established a rule in my life that I would endeavor to never act out of fear. Fear can be a great ally in protecting us, but it should not be a part of making decisions. Recently, I was faced with a fundamental decision, and there was a great amount of fear in my own mind attached to one of the options, even though that option didn’t seem to be the best choice based on its own merits. Being reluctant to feel as if I were giving in to the fear, I called on a treasured friend and trusted colleague to help me sort out this decision. We agreed that this was, indeed, an exception to my rule, and it made it easy for me to pursue the right decision.
 
Anytime you’re going to spend a workday playing on your boat or choose an option because you are afraid of the alternative, it’s great to have someone you trust and respect on your team to help you stay on course.
 
As you go through your day today, respect the rules, but leave a little room for exceptions.
 
Today’s the day! 

Jim Stovall is the President of Narrative Television Network as well as a published author of many books including The Ultimate Gift.  He is also a columnist and motivational speaker.   Follow @Stovallauthor