Everything that happens in life has meaning. Even if you don't understand that meaning at the time. Viktor Frankl

daily vitamin 2026.03.12
Everything that happens in life has meaning. Even if you don't understand that meaning at the time.
Viktor Frankl

Ten years ago, my former boss, who was the overwhelming top salesperson at the company at the time, said something in an internal interview that I am only now remembering.

"You must not become a servant to your customers."

It was a typical remark from someone who was a person of great creativity and action, but at the time, I just thought it meant something like, "Don't just do whatever the customer tells you to do."

Back then, I believed that recklessly responding to every customer request was the definition of righteousness. Of course, I knew when something was impossible, but I responded to everything I could manage with my own resources. In fact, I was getting results, and I enjoyed it for what it was.

Time has passed, and I have become a parent.
Now that I can no longer be solely focused on work, I am re-examining the truth of "customer first."

If you try to respond to every unreasonable demand, your own heart will become exhausted, and as a result, the quality of service for other customers will drop.
On the other hand, if you just reject things and work for your own convenience, you cannot build trust.
This is an incredibly difficult dilemma.

I keenly feel that what I need now is the skill of "assertive dialogue" that values both the other person and myself.
The reason my former boss didn't give me that advice directly was likely because he saw that I didn't need it yet and wouldn't have understood it. Instead, he left me with the words, "Once your child is born, nothing will go exactly as you want it to." This is also something I am keenly feeling now.

Words I couldn't understand in the past appear before me as urgent challenges as my life stage changes.
I feel that these are important "dots" that I cannot avoid if I am to update myself into the person I "want to be."
It is difficult, but I am sure that the current me can face it.

Straightening my back, I will continue to accumulate my own kind of sincerity, one step at a time, today as well.
May today be a meaningful day for you as well.