What does reality have to do with success?
One of the attendees of our recent event, The Lemonade Journey wrote me about her story and her “take away” from the morning.
Bombs happen…it is part of life. How you react determines the outcome.
My bomb was my employer telling me I was difficult to work with. Never saw that coming. Always prided myself on being a valuable, hard working employee. An asset. Certainly not the fastest or most tech savvy employee but loyal, determined, and passionate about customer service.
Being the people pleaser, I am; I took this very hard; perhaps too hard.
Another way at looking at a “jolt” along life’s journey is to think of it as a “reality check”.
Do you seek reality?
As a people developer, I naturally observe people. I’ve found we have one of three responses to the “call to grow”. The person may:
- Know something is holding them back, but not know what to do
- Know something is holding them back, but does not slow down to address it
- Not know, while others around them know
Likewise, there are three responses to dealing with the truth about who you are, where you are, and how well you are leading your life. When it comes to reality, people will:
- Assume they know what’s going on, so they act or think as if they know what’s going on
- Seek reality as the friend it is designed to be
- Avoid reality steering clear of the truth using denial or minimization to avoid it
What is the “best predictor” of future success?
What comes to mind when you think of success predictors?
Often we think in terms of education, talents, strengths, skills, right place at the right time, or knowing the right person, and hard work.
While all of these contribute to finding an opportunity, here it is:
“The Best Predictor of Future Success” is the ability & willingness to learn & change achieved through consistent reflection on the truth found in one’s story…experience, feedback, success, & failure.”
Where do you look for reality?
The story, your story delivers the truth needed to experience freedom, growth, and success.
When we look in these three directions, we will discover reality:
1. Your world – What is true around you, your work, your company, the market, the world? What is really going on when you let go of the assumption you “already know”? To say it another way, challenge your assumptions.
Ask the question: “What is it really like out there?”
2. You – What do you think about feedback? Is it more like the “noise in a loudspeaker” or useful information for guiding your journey? When embraced, feedback helps you get from where you are today to “there”. Do you wait for feedback or actively seek it?
Ask the question: “What is it like to encounter me?”
3. Others – The business of business (life) is people. The only thing that truly matters is our relationships. Interestingly enough, when it comes to reality, your past relationships tend to influence how you see others today. Whether an unresolved past, your own needs, or your own self-image, how you see others affects reality.
Ask the question: “How do I see this person, and why?”
What does reality have to do with success?
Yareli Arizmendi says, “As artists, the pleasure is to really have your work resonate and mean something. Art takes its inspiration from reality.”
A sense of joy in our work comes when we live with purpose and passion, serving others. Today is a blank canvass; paint your new chapter gaining direction and inspiration from your story.
When you seek and embrace truth, freedom comes; enjoy the journey.
Whether our friend is “hard to work with” or not I don’t know. However, her “reality check” does provide opportunity to engage in conversation in pursuit of truth. Why waste the pain?
How are you responding to reality?
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