The Faith and Work Series
Israel Idonije on Faith, Work, and Success (Part 3)
by Ramon Mayo
Israel Idonije: A lot of people ask what are your gifts, what are your abilities, what are your talents? What’s something that’ll make you upset or angry? What are the things you love or, things that interaction in your life that you connect with? A lot of people haven’t taken that time to know those things, or know the answers. Ultimately, to be self-aware; self-awareness is really the first key in being able to connect with other people.
Ramon: ok
Israel Idonije: If I know you’re this type, and I know who I am, and if I want this relationship to work, I’ve got to engage you differently. Because I know I’m assessing your personality type, I know who I am, so let me engage you differently for a positive outcome.
Ramon: Yeah; that makes sense.
Israel Idonije: As you and I both know positive relations and connections are key to success in life; it’s the key to everything. So, for me, that is a very important part of not just what I do personally, but what I do as far as the work we do in the community. Like how do you help someone become self-aware and understand self-better and just apply that to every day of their lives? In some situations, life is easy when everything is amazing, and everything is good if you have no issues. Unfortunately, there isn’t one of us that will go through life and not face a challenge. So, then the question becomes, how do we all handle the challenges in our lives because, eventually, that is what will define our lives.
Ramon: Exactly. You mentioned knowing what you hate or what makes you upset or what you love, so what do you love most about what you do?
Israel Idonije: Well, what do I love most about what I do the most? I really love the flexibility, or I’d say the variety of what I do. I have this manufacturing business and we work on it Monday. Later today, I’ll be working on a tech company on a new product that we’re going to bring into the market. In two to three weeks, we’ll be working on developing one of our real estate projects we’re up branding. So, everyday being able to work on different projects and different things is a lot of fun and it’s exciting. Not that I enjoy the challenge, I enjoy overcoming the challenge.
Ramon: Yeah. That makes sense.
Israel Idonije: So, it’s like one of my coaches used to say in training; he’d say, “Get comfortable, with being uncomfortable.” And when you can do that, there’s nothing that you can’t overcome. You’re comfortable when you’re in that spot position when you ran 8 laps and you’re done and you have two more. Someone who’s not comfortable in discomfort falls apart; someone whose life is just a little bit a work, I love it; I can do three more, I can do four more. That, being, finding comfort in discomfort. It’s a little twisted psychologically [laughter] but it is such a great tool to allow you to fight through life’s challenges letting you find the good, the positive, and the focus when we are in that challenge.
Ramon: Yeah
Israel Idonije: I think that’s another thing I love about what I do. Doing all these things, all of them have a different challenge and I enjoy the ability of putting a plan together to overcome that challenge.
