See One, Do One, Teach One
With each morning's sunrise, the daily impact of the global pandemic keeps dropping precipitously here in North America. As this is happening, what are you noticing about yourself and others as the economy fully reopens? Is everyone sailing peacefully along these newly freed up waters of life with a sense of gratitude? Or is everyone driving their speedboats at full-throttle? Perhaps now is the time to think from see one, do one, teach one.
See One
For those of you who went to college, remember when you showed up on your first day? If you were like me, you wanted to do everything. You wanted to try acting, a new sport, debate, student government, being a part of a singing group, or try new jobs like tutoring or delivering pizzas. The sheer excitement of all these new opportunities flooded your thoughts and overwhelmed your imagination. Given this sudden abundance of potential activities, you may have been left with the question: what should my new course be?
Similarly, with the economy reopening, it feels like we should do anything and everything as quickly as possible. Get your speedboat out, and let’s hit every possible cove, island, and beach we can find, and let’s do it all yesterday! Unfortunately, this mindset will undoubtedly lead to exhaustion and unfulfillment both personally and professionally.
You have seen one pandemic. You may have seen one first year in college. You need a strategy and a plan for how you deal with this unique situation.
Do One
In our last newsletter, I said, “During the pandemic I realized I had neglected the creative side of my life.” One of the results of that insight was the writing of a book for college interns. Here is an excerpt:
“Later on, many years after college, I heard someone speak at a conference, a football player from another top-tier university. He said that when he went off to college, his dad said to him: ‘You have the opportunity to be excellent in academics, you can have an extraordinary athletic experience, and you can have a ton of fun with an incredible social life. But you’re going to have to pick just two of those and no more, if you want to seriously succeed in college.’”
Unwisely, I did the opposite. Speaking from experience, taking on too much at the same time for too long leads to mediocre results everywhere. In my case, I chose a challenging major while being a varsity athlete and a leader in a social club. Each had multitudinous demands, and as a result, peace of mind, excellence, and fulfillment were no longer on the map. I wanted to do everything all at once. Do you see yourself in what I am sharing right now? If so, please slow down and pick one thing and start doing that one thing really well.
Teach One
Consider that you haven’t fully absorbed life or business lessons until you have seen them, done them and taught them. I assert the challenge now is to take the lessons that you have learned from the pandemic and share them with others. Teach your lessons. Look at what you didn’t like before the pandemic that had been cast aside by the pandemic. If you wish to continue to keep those things away from you, ask yourself, “What do I need to do to keep those things away?” Perhaps there is something you need to communicate to somebody. Please do that today and do it in the spirit of teaching.
Next, look at what you did like about the pandemic and think about how you will keep those things going forward. You can then teach others what you’ve seen and done and fully embrace the life lessons you’ve learned in the last year.
During the pandemic, I stopped traveling for work and started focusing on writing. I wrote The Authentic Intern book with the intention to teach college students how to get the most out of their internships.
What are you doing to teach others now that you’ve seen and done one pandemic? Please slow down and reflect on what will work best for you and your business going forward. You have everything you need to do so.
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