The days ahead aren’t going to be easy. Few of us will go unchallenged: People will lose their lives, or family members, or their jobs (or say good-bye to colleagues who lose theirs), or their homes. Everyone else will suffer a disconnection from familiar patterns – from how we make or spend our money to how we connect with others.
Before tomorrow gets here, it’s wise to determine the experience we desire in the days ahead: Do we want to be comfortable? Or fulfilled?
Comfort is reflexive. Fulfillment requires discipline. Each requires different actions:
- If I want comfort, I put off the hard decisions. If I choose fulfillment, I decide before someone else decides for me.
- If I want comfort, I need things given to me. If I choose fulfillment, I seek to serve.
- If I want comfort, my happiness is contingent on the circumstance. If I choose fulfillment, I work to become bigger than my circumstances.
- If I want comfort, I agonize when things are taken away from me. If I choose fulfillment, I know that which I value the most cannot be taken away from me.
- If I want comfort, I need other people to act a certain way. If I choose fulfillment, I accept (and even appreciate) the differences between us.
The quest for fulfillment doesn’t mean we don’t experience pain. It means we use it as a lever to become the person we’ve always known we can (and should) be.
A reminder: People are watching you. Show us the way.
P.S. My inspired friend, Jeff Hayes, the CEO of The Myers-Briggs Company, is going to join me for an honest discussion to explore practical steps we can all take to build more resilient teams. If you’re up for joining the real-time conversation, sign up for the next Collaborative Leader’s Huddle, April 23rd, at 8 a.m. Rocky Mtn Time. You can register here for free.
