I’ve talked about this a bit before and … here I go again. By nature, I am extremely private but I feel the need to share some things if, for nothing else, to give folks who may be struggling with addiction, a little hope. I write this with gratitude.
I was always a very good salesperson and, I think, a good manager. This was despite my 20 plus years as a functioning alcoholic. Mind you, during these times, I never reached my full potential.
At first, I was a “highly functioning” alcoholic. Then I became “functioning”, then “barely functioning” and, finally, “non-functioning”. When I hit bottom, I was faced with a probable early death following a dissolution of my marriage.
Honestly, there was a part of me that welcomed those possibilities. I would be able to put the pain behind me. I did come close. Alcohol withdrawal can kill you and I did have a seizure while attempting to detox myself (not recommended!). What did my alcoholic brain tell me? “Seizure … bad. Don’t stop drinking.”
They say that alcoholics have no fear of hell since they have already been there. Very true. I have been a recovering alcoholic for 18 plus years now thanks to my higher power, who I call God, and AA. I have had, gratefully, zero slips and zero relapses. One day at a time.
One of the promises of AA is that the compulsion to drink will be removed. Also very true. The thought of a drink, or even the hankering for one, is completely gone. I can’t imagine a life without total sobriety. I have no desire for one.
What I had not anticipated was a complete 180 degree turn from many, if not most, of my working habits. Of course, these also carry through to my personal life.
- Driven – I’d never really felt an urgency to get things done, to stay ahead. I’m now consumed by it.
- Confidence – Well I think that I have always been confident, now it is even more so. Of course, not worrying about people finding out about my addiction … helps.
- Not avoiding the uncomfortable – I ALWAYS avoided the uncomfortable conversations and particularly with clients. This led to even more uncomfortable conversations. Now … doesn’t happen.
- Selling style and success – My selling style has changed dramatically which has led to much higher levels of success.
- Details – It used to be … good enough. Not anymore. The devil is in the details.
- Procrastination – Why do today what you can put off until tomorrow? See “Driven”.
- Organization – My desk is clean. I am a compulsive list maker and particularly for to-do items. It is how I stay ahead and it allows be to be prepared for the unexpected.
- Decision making – I always struggled with making decisions. Now they come quickly and easily.
- A need to exceed the expectations of others – This is a big one. The only acceptable result of a client engagement is to have exceeded their expectations. Previously it was only to meet them and on whatever level.
- Highly competitive – I’ve always been competitive but not like this. Failure is never an option unless I have done everything in my power to secure the win.
All is not perfect. I can still be anxious and grumpy. I tend to have unrealistic expectations of others. Things continue to piss me off. My temper, while greatly improved, can be reactive. I’m impatient. Very impatient. I guess this means that I am still human:)