The grass isn’t always greener

New things can bring us joy but it’s often short lived.  Something new is exciting at first but when we learn to adapt to it the shine wears off. 

Savouring the anticipation of the idea is often more rewarding and longer lasting that the actual outcome which can sometimes leave us feeling underwhelmed or disappointed, Benjamin P Hardy writes https://www.success.com/34-things-you-need-to-know-about-becoming-successful/ Conversely, things are often not as bad as we anticipate.  Our mind can work something up into a frenzy, but the actual discomfort may not be as bad as we thought it would have been.

When we consider whether to do something, every decision has a consequence so when you consciously choose one path, you unconsciously do not choose multiple others.  We have to make a decision on what matters most and will take whatever consequences that decision brings. Life is full of conflicting and competing priorities and decisions it can be hard to see the wood from the trees and having to make a decision can be stressful.  Many times we end up choosing the path of least resistance, or the one that requires less effort and even end up staying with the status quo because to do something else is just too difficult.

Entrepreneurs and big business tycoons are the risk takers who choose the difficult paths but they need to put the hard work in for it to pay off.  For every decision that succeeds, multiple others failed but they keep going.

How many times have you missed an opportunity because it wasn’t the right time, or you were too busy doing what you’ve always done?  Perhaps you felt too much would have to change in order for the opportunity to be worthwhile.  Perhaps you were just too insecure about your own abilities to make a leap of faith.

I was chatting with some former colleagues the other day and we discussed how long we had been employed at our organisation. I have been there twenty years now.  I recalled how I started out as a Band 2 administrator and now I’m a head of department on a very much higher salary.  I got there via a bit of a strange route but was fortunate to be in the right places at the right time and took some chances.  I was able to leverage my circumstances, skills and the people I knew in order to manoeuvre into increasingly better roles.  As I gained experience and more responsibility other people around the organisation got to know who I was and what I could do and when another chance came for me to change roles, I spoke to a few people I knew and a role that was becoming vacant, was open for consideration.  I did go through all the proper and formal selection processes but my last three roles have come about following conversations with colleagues and being in the right place at the right time.

As I consider my next steps, and what I want to be doing in the next five to ten years, I’m sure there will be many options available to me. I will need to make some brave decisions and see where it takes me, but nothing ventured, nothing gained.