Getting Success Flowing
Viewing the pandemic newly can open up ideas for success. One idea is to inquire into what it takes to have success flow like a waterfall in your life. In addition to figuring out what it takes, perhaps more importantly, how do you keep it up?
Getting
There are so many ways to look at the pandemic. Here’s one. What if the pandemic was actually the calm eye your lifeboat suddenly found itself in during an ocean hurricane called your life? I want you to feel how prior to the pandemic you traveled to get everywhere you could, you over-scheduled yourself, and you unintentionally neglected very important aspects of your life. For you, perhaps you felt it was health, family, dignity, or the state of the world that could be ignored for the sake of sailing beyond the horizon in the name of career advancement. Then the pandemic came, your lifeboat leveled off, and you found yourself slowing down and seeing clearly all aspects of your life – especially if you lost a dear loved one during this time. You had the opportunity to see where your lifeboat was navigating towards and to chart a passageway through calmer waters to your promised land.
During the pandemic I realized I had neglected the creative side of my life. Shocking, I know. Hence this newsletter (with its accompanying photos on our beautiful blog), piano lessons, and the writing of a book about internships (coming this summer). Each creative channel had to feel right for me and my family. The newsletter had to be fun, valuable to readers, and flexible – I could write about anything I wanted involving business whenever I wanted to. Piano lessons had to be songs I liked. Songs had to put a smile on my face. Lastly, the internship book had to come from being lovingly impactful. It had to be authentic and nurturing. Ultimately, it would be a gift for future generations of college students – in short, a book I wish I had when I was 19.
Ever wonder why this all happened in 2020, or shall I say 20/20? The pandemic provided clarity of vision. Each moment I put into these creative endeavors I experience clearly getting there.
Success
I said I would do these things for myself. What I say I will do means something to me. I wasn’t always like this. It took a lot – like 2,000 hours - of ontological training. I finally learned to honor my commitments – whether they are fulfilled or not. I just stay at it. I am human, so certainly not perfect, just ask my kids. And honoring my commitments is how I choose to live because I learned that’s a life worth living. If I consistently do what I say, guess what flows next? Success.
In business, we all have commitments. We all say we are committed to success. Yet, don’t you know exactly what to do to be successful and you don’t do it? Don’t you know that success is in reach if you just get up 30 minutes earlier and take action sooner? Or, if you just ask one more question - the one you know could make a difference if you could just get over the possibility of looking bad asking it in a business meeting? Often you don’t do those things and then you dwell in the mystery of the success of others. It is quite the phenomenon because it is so obvious. You know what to do, you don’t do it, and then you are amazed at others who do experience the kind of success you want. How do I know? Because I feel my lifeboat is a battleship fighting those thoughts every day.
Flowing
For a variant reason, I think one of the best quotes is “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different result.” I keep it in mind, but I don’t buy it. Dripping water over and over on a stone will turn it into sand – a different result. Deliberately practicing over and over does produce mastery - a very different result when playing a song. Asking the same interview question over and over does tune your ear to the subtle differences in answers you get from candidates. Researching the same thing over and over does yield breakthroughs – a different result - because each time you do it, you yourself are a slightly different person with a slightly different perspective. Riding the same surfboard…well, you get the point. Please keep up the “insanity.”
You want to get success flowing in your life? Get clarity, honor the commitments that work for you, do what you know to do without comparing yourself to others’ success, and please do the same thing over and over. And here’s the secret to keeping it up: keep operating this way even after you have achieved success.
Thank you for everything, 20/20 Pandemic.
So? Where you are now, get success flowing.
Here's to you and your awesome future.
Until then, keep your feet on the board and keep riding your wave!
Robert J. Khoury
CEO Agile Rainmakers