Good morning, Team!  It’s Friday! …and my last blog for the year.

I’m sitting on yet another delayed flight over the past few weeks. Safety first, always. But it’s relative. I see logistics mistakes made every single day and the aviation industry is … not immune.

To my topic for the day.

There are natural patterns in life. An old boss called one out he named, the “bullshit tolerance” curve. It goes like this:

When we first get out of school/college, we are willing to make a name for ourselves and put in the time, effort, etc. As we age, we get married, buy a car, buy a house, have kids and with each step, we are so invested that we will tolerate…more bullshit. It escalates until the kids are out of college, the car is paid off (or you start leasing), the mortgage is done, or close, depending on how much the weddings cost and if you took a second mortgage out… and the descent begins. Usually just as treacherous as the ascent because now you’re whooped, older and wisdom may or may not make up for your inflexibility. (Is this guy sarcastic or just excessively candid?)

Bending:

In this instance, we try to bend the curve DOWN, flatten the mountain as it were, so recovery isn’t quite so long, arduous and painful…labor of love or not.

We’ve all seen the thought process that “I’m in so deep now, what’s another $50k?”

Answer: It might be your sanity, your health, or your willingness to keep going.

This is too important to stop at one example so this might spill over into the New Year. We should explore moving some curves to the right, some to the left and some up instead of flattening.

No matter what, if you give in to the pattern, you’ve accepted mediocrity as the only answer. This is a leadership blog at its core and average, typical, take-what-the-world-gives-you is like giving up. Something I can’t accept, nor should you.

Have a blessed weekend, happy holidays and an awesome new year! 

BTW-If you are thinking about making a resolution…consider a commitment not tied to a calendar but linked to the benefits that will come from your choice of healthier habits. 🙂

Eric