Hey family! I just wanted to share this memory and story with you. I was literally driving the other day and I was reminded about a time when I worked at Old Navy. This was plus ten years ago when I was in High-school about to graduate and head to college. There was a promotion and position available for stock manager. I always wanted to move up so I applied. Leading up to the time of the interview, I had a setback. 2 weeks before interviewing my car had stopped working on me and I had to bum rides from people and even used Public transportation. Within those 2 weeks i had my first write up for tardiness. Public transportation made me late 2 times and it wasn’t just a little late I’m talking about 2 hours late. The other occurrence happened when I asked a family member to take me to work, they showed up an hour late. So here I am about to have an interview for a promotion after already getting wrote up the week before. I knew I didn’t really have a chance because there were two other candidates. I almost was just going to step out of the running but I said well what if. I did the interview and the next day I got the phone call that I got the position and I could come in and sign for the raise and get my keys to the store. I finally was able to take a deep breath. Looking at this story now I understood why my mishaps with being late a few times didn’t mess up my longevity of being a hard worker. I was never late before the last 2 weeks. I was showed up early, always came in on my off days, was quick to learn new procedures and new processes. I was hungry because I wanted to move up, but not only that, I put in the work. I want you to see the bigger picture here. The hard work wasn’t just for the job or company I worked for but the hard work was building my character, accountability, and integrity. Friends don’t slack off just because the other people are. You’re not built that way. You are designed to stand out from the average. The average gives in, the average say that’s all I’m doing right now, and the average usually always need recognition to do more. A leader never has to be told when to show up, or when to work hard because they already know that they are leading examples and that someone is watching them. I’m pretty sure the store manager was watching me, and she knew that these mishaps of tardiness wasn’t Brandon and life happens to people and she didn’t see that as being a part of my character. So I want to encourage you today. Keep doing what you’re doing and do it well. Don’t slack off, give it 💯 percent! You got this. Be blessed!