Maybe you’re an Alan Jackson fan and maybe you’re not. Either way I’m sure the question has come up in conversation in your life at least once. Maybe you were asked by someone at a party or on the anniversary or just at one of those, well you know, those moments. Without a doubt you remember, because no one can forget that. Just the other day I was sharing some thoughts with a friend. Neither he nor I was alive during the attack on Pearl Harbor, but both of our dad’s were. He said to me “You know, I think I understand what my dad felt on the day Pearl Harbor was attacked and now as a firefighter who lived through 9/11 I have come to know the sadness and despair that goes along with a tragedy of this magnitude.”
Then we discussed how far we have come in 13 years and how much we have learned. We shared that the most impressive thing our country has gained however is resiliency, resolve and growth. We have become better firefighters, officers, friends, husbands and dads. Most importantly we hope we have become better people. Every day we get up and go to the firehouse and with great pride we get on the engine, truck or rescue and do our job without hesitation. As firefighters we see some of the most horrific tragedy a person could see and the resiliency, resolve and growth we have experienced are some of the character traits that get us through the shift and ultimately our career and life.
Just like you know where you were when the world stopped turning on that September morning, you will need to know What your Why is if you want to get a job as a firefighter. You will need to identify what really matters to YOU!
This writing is the line in the sand that you draw and you can use to say to yourself, “I will not go on another day without knowing Why I want to be a firefighter.” Once you figure out the WHY you will find the HOW. In order to discover your WHY, you are going to have to explore the depths of your soul. You are going to have to go places that may be uncomfortable and seldom visited. Places inside yourself that hold the keys to who you are. These places can be found somewhere between uncomfortable and commitment. What I mean is this. If you want to know your why you have to ask the question and be totally honest with yourself and not be afraid of the answer or the process to get there.
Here is an example. A few days ago a candidate called me for career advice and after we talked for about an hour I asked him to tell me what his written plan to get hired was. His response was that he had been trying to become a fire fighter since he graduated high school and he really did not have one. Well, I thought that’s great that he knew from an early age what he wanted to do. Then I asked him how old he was. His answer was a little surprising. He said he was 30 years old. I did the quick firefighter math and realized he had been trying to get a job as a firefighter for the last 12 years. Now this may seem like a long time and yes if you were waiting for a bus at the bus stop for 12 years that would be a long time to wait for the bus. However, it all depends on what you have been doing for the last 12 years. I then asked him to tell me if he felt he could classify the effort that he was putting into getting hired as spare time, part time, full time or all the time. His answer was between spare time and part time. After careful consideration I explained to him what the difference was in the above time frames and what the people who were getting the jobs were doing. Here is what I shared with him:
Spare time = 5 – 10 hours per week
Part time = 20 – 30 hours per week
Full Time = 40 hours per week
All The Time = What ever the amount of time it takes to get hired
Individuals who get hired make the sacrifice to put in the necessary time to be prepared and that time amount is “All The Time.” They are totally committed and totally sold out. Know, some of you will say you can get hired with less effort. I say that may be true, but I sit on the other side of the table and we can see who is a spare timer and who is an all the timer and we want to hire “All The Timers.” Don’t you think a job this important deserves that kind of effort?
As I wrapped up the conversation with this young we discussed how he needed to be honest to himself and I asked him if he felt he could tell me why he wanted to be a firefighter. His answer was sincere and was just the beginning of him discovering his why. I was encouraged by his why and I advised him to sit down with his closest family members and discuss with them his decision to make this goal an All The Time effort. If there is one thing I have come to know, it is that if my family wants something as bad as I do then I have found my why. Its simple, my life revolves around wanting to service and please others. If I have served and pleased others then I have fulfilled my why.
So as you are pondering your WHY or are adjusting your WHY consider this, in order to be successful at what you want you need to find someone who has what you want and do what they did to get it. Your next step should be to seek counsel to get your answers and we would be glad to help you. Firealumni has many resources to help and we are also available to assist with career advice and personal coaching.
