Values
Positivity
Perseverance
Teamwork
Passion
The past year, I was going through some pretty serious problems with my health. I was exhausted, frustrated, and stressed all the time. I even was struggling with some anxiety because of the issues. But from this experience I learned the power of positivity. If you keep a positive attitude, it can help keep the stress and frustration of a situation at bay, as well as help others around you stay calm in a difficult time. It’s one of those “mind over matter” concepts. If you keep a positive outlook, things will generally be more positive and easier to handle, even if you are going through some tough times.
The same struggles I had last year that taught me about positivity also taught me perseverance. While I was having health issues, I did not give up and stop living my life. I was able to keep going to school full time and I even spent a semester in Florida working 60+ hours a week at Disney World, while maintaining my full time student status at SDSU. It was insanely hard and exhausting, but I learned how to push through the struggle. This has been something that I take with me in every situation, in all aspects of life. I was able to make it through the craziest, hardest times of my life by persevering, and if I can make it through that, I can make it through anything.
From the time I was four years old, I have participated in team sports including softball, soccer, and cheerleading. The experiences I had on these teams taught me the importance of having good team dynamics. On all of these teams, we had to really work together to meet our goal. If there was one person who was not on board with what we were working towards, or even how we were doing things, it made it a lot harder for us to meet our goals. The same goes for the workplace. If there is one person who is not working with the team, it makes the team less functional and hurts the productivity of the team as a whole.
It can be hard to stay motivated at any job, but I think this is especially true in the Hospitality industry. We are constantly dealing with customers who are less than satisfied with their experience, and a lot of times they blame the first person they see (us). If you do not have a passion for the job you have or the industry you are working in, it can be hard to stay positive and keep working hard through the difficulties. As a leader, it is important to be passionate about your work because that passion and enthusiasm that you have will come out in your daily work and can influence your team. They are more likely to feel excited about a task or a job if you are.