How do you measure success?
With all the ongoing changes and uncertainties, progress is sometimes small and or invisible.
Naturally, we become frustrated.
This is an unhelpful human response that impacts your ability to lead successfully.
To better manage your energy, mindset and mood, it’s worth reminding yourself of the following:
Frustration always develops when expectations for a specific outcome are higher than your acceptance of current reality.
Your focus might just be in the wrong spot (topic and or time) and patience might be a scarce resource.
Your own, personal definition of success might not be very clear, and you are chasing an ever-elusive goal without accepting its potential impermanence or intangibleness.
What feels frustrating now, can create amazing positive impact later.
Success is a feeling, not a destination.
The current rain and flooding happening right now, reminded me of my own struggles of how to define success.
How many dingoes?
In 2007, I walked part of the Larapinta Trail in Central Australia. At the start, the weather was challenging. It rained for days and many sections of the trail were flooded. We got stuck in a small Aboriginal community called Hermannsburg, and spent our days camping in the historic buildings that had no doors. Think of damp, cold, windy nights sleeping on mats, joined by a few local dingoes. Not exactly the family holiday we had envisioned. However, it became a successful learning journey.
We learned some fun things, for example, that some Indigenous people jokingly measure temperature degrees by the number of dingoes they want to have sleeping next to them (like most dogs, they are quite warming). We learned how to make a fire — from damp wood. We learned how to get along with a very diverse group of about twenty people — in a small space with one(!) bathroom. We learned to listen to the rain and wind … and to each other.
When we eventually started the hike, some people were very eager to get to our next destination — constantly asking our Aboriginal guide: ‘How much further is it?’ His answer: ‘Not long.’ Half an hour later, same question and … same answer. After a while, everyone succumbed to just being in the moment, and enjoying the landscape and each other’s company. We successfully navigated some muddy tracks, flooded creeks and gorges, slippery rocks and fallen trees. We were in awe when stopping at some breathtaking vistas and learning about tiny sacred sites and their meaning.
It was a successful trip — despite the rain, the cold and the ongoing discomfort. Every person left Alice Springs (where our trip ended) a richer person. Richer in new perspectives and insights, and richer in life-long memories and deeper relationships. The time spent exposed to wild nature had shown us new dimensions of what it means to be a human being. It taught us patience, acceptance, humility. We learned to listen more deeply and ask fewer questions.
So, how do YOU define your own personal success? And what do you do this week to celebrate it?
Be kind, go well.
Naturally yours,
Ingrid