Episode 138: No Excuses

Welcome to the Soul of Innovation podcast. I am Thomas Anglero, and I want to share with you something that happened at 4 a.m. in the morning the other night, something that made me think about how lucky we are and how much we complain when we got it so damn good. And I hope you also see yourself in this story. The other night, One of my kids wasn't feeling too well and we had to call the ambulance. The ambulance got here at 4 AM. By the way, my kid's doing much better now, thank you very much. But when the ambulance arrived, two women showed up. And as they showed up and they came up the steps to my house to the bedroom of my son, they came up in a very different way. I thought it'd be a little bit like the movies where they come running up the steps with their hands full of equipment and stuff. They came up in a very respectful— eyes open. They were reading the situation. They weren't just looking to get to the patient, but they were also reading the environment. They were looking at us, the people in the house. What was the mood that we were in? They were absorbing everything. They were taking in everything. As they came into his bedroom, they looked around. Again, reading, learning, absorbing, understanding, approached him with the gentleness and kindness of a grandmother. So sweet, so soft, so reassuring. They immediately took spots as if they were in a sequence, as if they had practiced this together, these two. One in front of my son, the other one sitting in a chair. Ready to record the data. It's 4 a.m. It's a crisis situation, and two strangers are able to calm down a family that's in peril. Two strangers are able to be ultra professional and with their kindness and love and professionalism, take over a situation. As they took care of my son and everything was fine, I asked the one sitting in the chair some questions. I asked her, "How long do you work?" She goes, "We work from 7 in the evening to 7 in the morning." And I joked with her and I said, "Almost done?" And she says, "Yeah, can't— yes, can't wait." And we laughed. And I thought to myself, she has a sense of humor at 4 AM. Then I thought to myself, how many of us have a sense of humor at 4 AM? How many of us complain at our jobs? So let me ask you, do you complain at your job about the littlest thing? Do you have a job that you have to work from 7 PM to 7 AM? Do you have a job that at 4 AM in the morning you have to be able to have a sense of humor? Are you in your job able to enter a meeting room and you're able to calm everybody down? Are you able to read the situation, or do you enter that meeting room pissed off complaining, "Oh God, just another meeting"? Or today there's no more meeting rooms, everything is online. So you got to click on Teams and you have to join that meeting, or Zoom, or whatever platform you use. And you're going, "Oh, just another meeting." Let me ask you, she didn't do that at 4:00 AM when she entered my house in a crisis situation. So why the hell are you bitching and complaining, having this mood when you have to click on Microsoft Teams or Zoom to join a damn meeting? Meeting. Do you get my point?

So what?

You're in meeting after meeting after meeting. These ambulance drivers, doctors, saviors, they risk their lives. They give up their normal nocturnal cycle of sleep so that all of us can sleep well, that all of us, if something happens to someone we love, if someone ourselves, we have a complaint, a pain, they come to our rescue And they don't complain, they don't say whine that they have to click on a button on the screen that they have to join another meeting. They come into your house, they rescue your family emotionally, they rescue your family spiritually, and they rescue your loved one medically. What excuse do you have to complain that you have 8, 9, 10 meetings a day? They have to sit there in that chair all day. I looked at these two women with the greatest respect I've looked at anyone in a damn long time because— not just because they helped my son, of course I did, that's normal— because I understood the sacrifice they made to their lives. They could have a normal job. They could have a job that they only work during the time that the sun is up. They choose to work only when the sun's down. When we're needed the most, where health is needed the most, where people are the most vulnerable, that's when they step up. Let me ask you a question. When do you step up? Let me say that again. I'm going to ask you that question again. When do you step up? When do you save lives? When do you make a difference? When's the last time you calmed things down? When was the last time when somebody just saw you enter some place, they felt better? If it isn't every time you enter a room, it is every time you join a Zoom meeting or Microsoft Teams meeting or whatever, then you're doing something wrong. These women raised the bar in my life. And through this story, I hope they raise the bar in your life. None of us have excuses. Whenever you're tired, whenever you're in meeting number 8, think about these women who every night as we go to bed, they get up, they sit in an ambulance, even if it's cold as hell outside, They're positioned somewhere near you in some deserted corner waiting for your distress call, and they come to save you. You want to be like them. Come to everyone's distress call who you work with, who you live with, who you spend time with. Be like them. These wonderful angels who are able to, in a moment's notice, help everyone. We all should be helping everyone. If you're wondering, was I impressed? I was so impressed. You should be too. It's a reflection of ourselves. We've gotten spoiled, but we can be better. Go forth and spread beauty and light. Think about the story of ambulance drivers. These two women— let me be very clear— these two women who at 4 AM reminded me of what it is to be me. And I hope I have reminded you what it means to be you. I love you all. You know that. I believe in you, and that's why I share this story. I share this story because all of us need to be reminded and awakened of what we really are, of our real focus. Yes, it gets exhausting being behind a desk. Yes, it gets exhausting. All the damn calls. But what is the purpose behind it? And that is love. It is to take care of one another, is to take care of ourselves, is to look at people in a positive light. We have one life and this is it. Live it to the fullest and live it in such that every time somebody thinks of you, imagines you, sees you, hears your name, they are praising you. It is achievable by being that ultimate version of you and being love it is actual core. That's who you are. When people wake up this morning, I want you to greet them with a smile. They don't smile back, that is fine because you are love personified. When you see people in a meeting this morning or this afternoon, you greet them with love because you are love personified. And in the evening when you have dinner, whether you're having dinner alone or with your family, you are love personified. That's who you are. That's who you are. Don't forget that. Neither will I. Take care. This is Thomas Anglero. Until next time.

Thank you for listening to that episode. If you want to contact me, you can contact me on my website at anglero.com, and you can also subscribe to the newsletter, or you can find me anywhere on social media with Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter. Thank you so much, and I hope to hear from you very soon.