Independence - My Interpretation

In the spirit of the 4^th of July and celebrating our nations independence I thought about how that word applies directly to the direction my career has taken.  Outside sales requires a heavy reliance on the support system around you, but just as much it is about learning how to hone your independence.  I am quickly learning how much of my week is dependent on me.  How I choose to take that freedom and turn it into something that equals success is part of my new daily challenge.

The freedom of this career is a big part of what drew me to it. I like that I am going to get out of each day, week, or month, what I put into it.  In order to make each day as productive as possible I started looking at my personal life to see how I would most effectively mix my professional life into it.  Knowing that I am not a great morning person I realized that by scheduling the majority of meetings in the morning gave me more motivation to get my day going and start with a high energy level that would carry me through the day.  On days when I have more meetings in the morning, and do follow-up work in the late afternoon, I feel as if I accomplish more than when the schedule is vice versa.  This isn’t always realistic based on potential customer schedules, but having that self awareness is helpful on the “off” days as well to keep focused and on track. The worst thing I could do is feel like I am taking advantage of the freedom entrusted to me. 

I have been given independence in how I spend time creating my schedule, what calls I prioritize, and how I take it upon myself to continue to improve my product and industry knowledge.  To be successful in all of these aspects there needs to be a certain degree of self motivation, of fight, to want it and to give 100 percent for every opportunity.  If I don’t want to go on meeting; if I don’t want to make the phone call, there is nobody looking over my shoulder to make sure I do. However, that is one of the greatest revelations I have had since starting this, is that I want to do it, everyday.  The sense of freedom, trust, respect, and support that I feel from Parker and The Hope Group is what gives me the ability to be independent and (fingers crossed) successful at the same time. 

Lori Wessels

Parker Hannifin
Product Support Specialist


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