Things people have said to me over the years…

People remember movie quotes, something influential that they read from some passage of a book or a random tweet from some motivational speaker; resurrecting something that Mark Twain or Zig Ziglar once said.  Great quotes stick.  Sometimes it’s not the words, but the inflection of those words that make or break the quote. 

I live in San Antonio and Spurs fever has taken over the town!  I have to admit, I don’t usually watch basketball, but to be at the center of the hub of all this energy is pretty exciting.  Coach Pop (The Spurs coach) told his team to “Get Nasty” during game one against OKC.  Since then, the word “Nasty” has blown up!  I hope to say something one day, with the proper inflection, that takes off like wildfire and possibly makes me rich in the process.  So far, all I can come up with is “I like Cheese”…if you put that on a t-shirt or bumper sticker, please give me 20%.

There have been some things that have been said to me in my career that have stuck with me.  Not all were meant in a positive way, but even when they were said in a negative fashion, I used them to motivate myself to do better.

Here are a few.  In order to keep anonymity I will not give name credit to these quotes.

(When I was a baby DJ just getting started my boss said this to me)  “Murphy, you’re a funny guy.  Too bad you aren’t funny on the radio”.  It was a breaking point for me at the time because I was trying to sound like everyone else, stiff and predictable, but that next day I took the gloves off and hit the mic as myself.  The rest is history.

(After sitting down with a different boss for a critique session) “Chase, I want you to stop being funny on the radio and focus more on the music.  People don’t want to laugh; they want to know about Britney Spears”.  Soon after that I started looking for jobs that allowed me to run the station.  I could no longer stand to work for someone who did not share my vision.  He had his way of doing things and I had mine.  In order to stay true to my vision, while remaining open minded, I had to move on.  This statement helped to launch my programming career.

 “I’m not sure you’re the guy for the job”?  This was said to me by a VP of a company after I launched a radio station and slaughtered the competition; forcing them to change format.  After winning for a solid 2 years, this guy said this to me!  He soon started his own company and a few years later asked to be my consultant.  Guess what I told him?  Yep!  “I’m not sure you’re the guy for the job”.  (That felt pretty good).  Perhaps he was trying to keep me motivated, but his tone and the words he used afterwards told me that he was trying to knock me down. 

“Chase, you’re good, but you’re not yet great”.  This was said to me by a VP of Programming (different guy from the previous quote).  At the time, those words were like a punch to the mouth.  I fumed for a good day or 2- wanting to stuff those words down his mouth.  Yet, deep inside I knew what he was doing.  He was using this to push me to work harder and to realize that there is always room for improvement and I had more to prove to myself and to him.  He was right.  I was good, but not yet great.  A year after that statement, he came in for a market visit and told me that I was great and that he was proud of my growth.  I didn’t need for him to say anything, but it certainly was a rewarding feeling.  Keep this in mind when you are challenging someone in your life.  Be prepared to make a follow up recognition statement or they may never understand the meaning of the original comment.

My advice to you-always look for ways to motivate yourself through these statements.  Don’t let them derail you or cause you to lose focus.  Channel the energy of these statements.   Yes, there are people who mean to bring you harm with their words and sometimes they are meant to motivate.  Only the people who delivered them know the true intention and they are probably not sure how the recipient “took” them.  Be motivated and assume that they are saying these things to motivate you. Or take those words, better yourself and ram them back down their throats!  (Just keep karma in mind). 

Haters gonna hate…play on playa’…play on.