The biggest reward is to surprise yourself by what you can pull off on a challenge. Or by what you are willing to give up in deference to your ethical code. Or by what rules you set for yourself and play by along the way. The journey is as much a discovery as the destination. If you stop to think, you’ll find you explored something new about yourself in the process. And you liked it.
Is the aftertaste of success better than what you imagined? Remember, you don’t need to describe it to the world. After all tastes differ. And there’s a reason we all order different things from the same menu.
To be honest, there are those who seek the easier compromises (and there are many) and the shortest route. And it is not that they don’t find fulfilment. Because that is what they set out to achieve. The fact that we notice it and (although unstated) it does irk us, is more a reflection of our benchmarks for ourselves. That people don’t play by our standards and sometimes get there seemingly faster, must surely be discomforting. Remind yourself of not just your goal but the way you wanted to reach it.
It all comes down to what a full life means to you. If it is predicated on someone else’s definition, or measured by someone else’s progress, you could be left feeling it isn’t quite what you wanted. The real question is, what kind of success fulfils you.
Next up, we’ll take a deeper look at unconscious bias and what it means…