Y Me Path

Y Me Path

Jeepers, here we go again…why does this always fall on my lap?

How come this always happens to me?

Of course, they’re all coming to me for the answers…

They always do this to me…

Does this “path” sound familiar? We find ourselves here, at one time or another.

Life and work and, and, and, and _____ become tedious very quickly, all too often.  When it does, we’re quick to blame or judge or point fingers at them.  We then spiral down this unhealthy path, which is everything but productive.

Often it comes down to how we’re thinking about the situation. 

When we find ourselves in a full-on, dead sprint down the “Y Me Path”, what if we change the way we think about “it” (whatever or whomever “it” may be…)

A OneMoreStep sentiment that absolutely, positively changes everything, every single time is simply to ReShuffle “Y Me Path” …rearrange the letters, just as we could “rearrange” our thoughts about certain situations.   

It spells – E-M-P-A-T-H-Y.

What a great and powerful word – EMPATHY. 

It is truly amazing what happens when and if our thoughts of “Me” become thoughts of “We”; better yet, when our “Y Me” feelings turn into compassionate, understanding, kind-hearted, and considerate feelings. 

Just like the Y Me Path magically changes to Empathy when we look at the same seven letters differently, our outlook on an otherwise annoying and demoralizing situation magically changes (for the better…perhaps for good!) when we look at the ‘same’ situations differently -- through an empathetic lens vs. a self-serving one. 

One for the road...

Today I was speaking with some of my colleagues at work.  We were talking about Guest Service, Leadership, and delivering a fantastic experience to our Guests.  My coworker's take was simple, yet a powerful reminder.

My colleague, Kevin Brown, said, “T…all we have to do is get people to have more empathy…instead of the cliché, ‘walk a mile in their shoes’, we should be teaching and coaching for our folks to ‘get inside their (our Guests') heads’; to ultimately feel what they feel.  Then…we’ll finally have compelling reasons to deliver the level of experience our Guests expect.”

It’s a pretty simple sentiment that packs a pretty big punch.  All we have to do is change the way we think about things.  A little empathy goes a long, long way in turning bad days into better days, frowns into smiles, and frustrations into feel good, happy moments that mean the most. 

Thanks, Kevin, for the OneMoreStep reminder today. 

Have a great day.

Taylor