No matter what you do in your job or life, you have power. This applies to business, software development or volunteer work.

First you have the power of attitude. If you have to do something, you might as well choose to have a good attitude about it and do it as well as it needs to be done (this differs from "do your best" as “best” may be overkill in some situations).

The second power you have is communication. You can choose to communicate respectfully and carefully so that your relationships are enhanced, or you can choose the opposite.

Patrik Löwendahl covers the power of communication style in his post “Merlin’s Magic Spells in Modern Projects” extremely well. Suffice it to say, life can be easier or harder depending on how you choose your words.

Both powers are yours… they are choices you make. Excuses are a choice. Not making a choice is in itself a choice.

Choose wisely.