Go Beyond Just Pitching Your Tent

This past weekend, my wife and I served as the Mentor Couple for the Spring 2023 LOVESTRONG Marriage retreat at St. Matthew’s Catholic Church here in San Antonio. Our team was composed of 30 couples who met for 8 weeks to put together this wonderful weekend experience.

We had a record number of couples who attended, and it was great to see the Holy Spirit make our marriages even stronger. We even had a young married couple in their early 20s attend.

Awesome!

Pitching Your Tent

On Friday night, Fr. Eric Ritter delivered a talk to our group, and near the end, he made a comment that landed with me:

“When you reach the top of the mountain, don’t just pitch your tent. You need to go back down and help other people reach the top too. You must look for ways to do more, to go beyond.”

This is a terrific message that can be applied in the workplace, too.

The Reality

Over the past 30 years, I have worked in many different settings, including as a Revenue Accountant at Shell Oil Company, Clinic Administrator for a large practice in Houston, IT Staff Analyst at USAA, business owner, and professor.

As you can imagine, I’ve seen and experienced the competitive nature of the workplace. For most people, including myself, it’s important to be in the top 10% in my department, so I can qualify for larger bonuses and the opportunity for career advancement.

The fact is that the majority of workers are concerned solely about their own success, and sometimes stepping on others or ignoring them is the norm.

Go Beyond

Fr. Eric reminded me that personal or business success means very little if we are not willing to help others along the way. In fact, the LOVESTRONG Marriage retreat is a great example of how the relationship between my wife and I benefited from this ministry, and we are now freely and unconditionally helping other couples reap the same benefits.

How can this concept of going beyond merely pitching our tent apply in the workplace?

Here are some examples:

• When we see a co-worker struggling with a job assignment, we can ask how we can help him. We might recommend a specific training that will increase his job skills, so he can better perform his work.
• If we hear about a job opening, especially one that is not advertised, we can reach out to colleagues who are a good fit. These positions are often coveted because the hiring manager is looking for a recommendation from specific people.

As I gain more experience about work and life in general, I now firmly believe that thinking about individual success is not only selfish but also a waste of time.

Sure … I will experience my own gains here and there, but I will leave so much on the table.

Fr. Eric is right on point … we must go beyond our own success.

In fact, even if a person amasses a fortune but fails to help others reach their goals, one may accurately say that they accomplished very little in life.

Homework Inquiry

During the next week, here’s your homework inquiry: How can you proactively be of service to others?