This past Monday, I was nominated – along with three others in my local business community – for the 2009 Mentor of the Year Award.

After dispatching the Looney Police and slamming my blinds shut, I contacted the Lake Houston Chamber of Commerce to make sure there wasn’t another “Jeff Timpanaro” or “Oberata Consulting” listed in the 2009 business directory.  Nope.  This had to be me.

With this reality closing in on me like Hillary running for office again, I was forced to reflect on 2009. What did I do?

2009 saw both success and the Fail Whale for Oberata.  From January through April, I had done seminars, established an online identity through social media, made inroads in the blog-o-sphere by writing lots of articles, and increased sales more than 20% from the previous year.  This semi-equates to “helping lots of folks.”

Yet, in the process of doing all the work, I’d ground myself to a halt.  In August, I was forced to take a sabbatical (which continues today) for health reasons, exhaustion, and curiosity about other pursuits.

Five months later, an award nomination lands <thud> in my Inbox.  Congrats Jeff!

EEYORE COMPLEX

For some reason, when sarcastic types like me are bestowed compliments or awards, there can an even deeper regression into ho-hum-dom.  As in, “I don’t really deserve this, so I’ve got to bury myself deeper in word-masks and reality-blur to turn down the shining light on my face.” For example, the title of this post was almost, “Dodo Bird Nominated for Survivor Award”.  See?  That’s funny!  Because, get it?  I’d only worked 60% of 2009, and I’d earned an award nomination . . . and the dodo birds didn’t survive, and they . . . ”

Oops.  That’s right.  You’re the intelligent readers – or at least the persistent ones if you’re still with us.

But dammit, I’m happy about this.  And what I’ve learned about giving & receiving is starting to pay off:  namely, that we’re all good at serving but not so good at receiving . . or just saying to someone while looking them right in the eyes, “Hey, thank you,” and really believing that the award is deserved.

Going even further, I would say that receiving such an award validates what I had been trying to do within the scope of my business.  The evidence?  This excerpt from the Oberata strategic vision:

I believe I am well-authorized to help others improve the way they work. The joy for me is when people say to me, “Jeff, working with you and with Total Integration has been the best thing I’ve ever done for my business, for my family, and for myself.”

So why would I be so terribly shocked that the vision would come to pass?  Why such huffy surprise at an award coming my way to validate my plans?  Well, it’s just dumb ego.  Stupid Eeyore.  Shut the hell up and say THANKS!  And that’s what I intend to do.

THANK YOU, Carmen Wisenbaker and Penworth Promotions.  Thank you insane thoughtful people that nominated me.  Thank you, people who vote for me – not just because you know me but because you’ve seen the true mentor in me.

Whether I win the award or not is kind of immaterial at this point.  I’m just thrilled to have been nominated and given a lift.  And that’s an oddly satisfying occasion for a Friction Writer.