Getting it Right the First Time

On Sunday Finn told me that he wanted an allowance.

He said that it was time for him to receive a weekly payment.

Then I asked him, “What have you done? In order to get paid you need to do work. Money just doesn’t magically appear.”

Then I gave him a few things he could do to earn money. I told him you could make your bed. You could throw out the garbage. I will pay you for each book that you read. You could clean my car.

Once he heard “You could clean my car” he jumped at that one.

“I’ll do that. I’ll clean your car.” he replied.

He then said, “I’ll meet you outside.”

I went outside and here came this 7 year old kid, wheeling out our vacuum cleaner. He then went and grabbed the extension cord and set the whole thing up.

He removed the floor mats and opened the back hatch. He vacuumed the entire car. He then told me, “Dad I’m done.” I came over and inspected the car and show him spots that he missed.

His response,“Dad this is so hard.” So I told him,“Whatever you do, you need to do it to the best of your ability. You need to always try your best.”

An hour later, he finally finished cleaning the car inside and out. It looked professionally done and I paid him for his great work.

The main lesson that I wanted to teach him is, you need to work and nothing is for free. And you need to always do your best at whatever you do.

These were lessons that I was taught by my parents and grandparents.

One of the things that my dad would tell me was, “You could do it right the first time or you could do it right when you have to redo it.” These are lessons that I still apply to my life today. It was pounded into my head as a kid. At times my dad would ride me so hard, I thought he hated me. Now as an adult I look back, and it was one of the most important lessons that I’ve learned.

Now I’m not saying that everything that I do, comes out perfect. Far from it. I’m always critiquing my work and always see things that I could improve on.

But I could tell you this, with the highest level of confidence, every time I do any work, I try my best, and put 100 percent effort into doing it right the first time.

If you are looking for a new dental office and this story resonated with you, give us a call at 773-292-1911 to schedule your appointment.

Check out my hilarious story, and see Finn getting his first paid gig:

Floss like a madman!

Emilio “Finn Needs A Job” Couret