I’m Working On It

We have a friend named Cameron Bedell who is a talented singer/songwriter who lives in Nashville. During a time when the world shut down to deal with the COVID pandemic, Cameron performed over Zoom for the participants in our Extraordinary Leader Program. He performed a song he co-wrote that went on to be a huge hit called “Down Home”. It was real treat to see someone who was given a concept and a feeling that he was striving to capture and then see what he came up with. It was so entertaining, and it also carried a message that many could relate to.

He was living in a house where the people he was living with had Covid. I am not sure if the uncertainty of that added to the emotion that came out in his performance, but it was special.

Then he asked us if he could sing us one more song. The audience enthusiastically said “yes!”

He sang a song called “I’m Working On It!”

It was a light song about a young man who was admittedly imperfect. Maybe he was immature, maybe he had made some mistakes, maybe he has said the wrong thing, but he was trying to make sure that an important young woman knew that he was working on it.

The chorus of “I’m working on it, I’m working it.” was very catchy. If you listen to it, you will soon have an ear worm that you will enjoy having.

Are you working on it?

Of course, what this young man was doing was maturing, learning, developing, getting better, not only in what he does, but with who he is.

Maybe it was having this special person in his life, or the prospect of losing this special person that made him decide, but one way or the other, he had decided. He was working on himself.

Shelley and I have the opportunity and privilege to work with people who are working on themselves to be brilliant in life and in their careers. We work with people who want to be better leaders of others. We work with people who want to better in their relationships. We work with people who want to be a great example for their children. The motivation doesn’t really matter; it is the decision to do it that matters.

There are many people who don’t think they need to work on themselves. They don’t see and need to change, or they have no desire to do the work. That is a personal choice that is an individual’s right to have.

But if you decide to work on something, you can change your world.

The “I’m” in I’m working on it is about accountability. There are many people that are waiting for others to work on it when things need to change. Deciding to take accountability is powerful. “I’m” is a contraction for I am, two of the most powerful words in the English language.

The “working” in “I’m working” on it is about action. There are a lot of people who are thinking about working on it but never get to the action part. “I’m working on it” is very different than “I am thinking of working on it.” Having an intention is very different than taking action.

The “it” in “I’m working on it” is the thing that is important to you.

What is “it” for you?

You can work on your vision for the future. You can work on your plan to get there. You can work on your standards, like the way you treat people, the way you dress, the way you meet your commitments, the way you treat yourself, the way you treat your body. You can work on your passions. You can work on special projects. You can work on slowing down.  You can work on being present. You can work on building competency with a certain skill. You can work on a relationship. You can work on not working so much.

I was inspired by Dr. Sanjay Gupta, the author of Keep Sharp, to work on the health of my brain. To create new neural pathways, I started to do different things for my brain. I am learning new things. I started to paint. I am co-writing some songs. I have been doing some exercises to remember and capture some long-term memory.

Shelley and I often challenge people to step out of their comfort zones to grow and gain new beliefs.

A huge step out of a comfort zone happened for me this year when Jeff Bishop from Royal Cup Coffee asked me to join the band “Double Shot” to perform in front of 2,000 people at the CMAA World Conference in Tampa, FL. I was asked to play a cajon—an instrument I had never heard of—on 18 songs (only three of which I knew). The automatic answer was “no” but after hearing someone else’s belief in me, and the opportunity to practice what I preach, the answer was “yes!”

I didn’t have a lot of competence. I did have the unwavering confidence of the members of the band, and I had some time to work on it.

The result was an experience that I will remember for the rest of my life and the awareness that we don’t work on somethings because of the limits we have decided to believe.

What would an “I’m working on it” attitude do for you, your family, your career and your team? What if everyone on your team was working on something to make themselves and the team better.

We talk about the A’s: Awareness, Action and Accountability.

You have a chance to enhance your life and the lives of others, what will you decide to do?

Let the world hear you say, “I’m working on it!”