NOT MUCH GROWTH AT THE PEAKS...
The other day I read Tim Feriss' post titled Harnessing Entrepeurial Manic Depression: Making the Roller Coaster Work for You and it got me to thinking about a talk I once heard. This gist of the speaker's message was that we don't do a whole of growing when we're on top of the world. It seems, when on top, we believe we've got things all figured out and we don't need to learn anything more. Humility is thrown out the window and we think we are in total control.
...LOTS OF GROWTH IN THE VALLEYS!
It's when we're at the lowest points in our life or in our businesses that we're forced to dig down deep and look introspectively. We're forced to look elsewhere for guidance and are willing to learn. It's during these periods that real growth occurs. It's during these periods that we're humbled and forced to admit to ourselves that we don't know it all and that we're not in total control.
A PERSONAL PEAK
Late in 2002, I had just come off a banner year as #2 sales rep in the country at our company out of 350 reps (in my first full year there). I'd made more money than I'd ever made in my life and I thought that I had this advertising thing licked! I'm sure I was a sight to see as I walked the aisles at the office with an extra spring in my step. Even though I had spent the previous 9 years flying airplanes in the Air Force, I already believed I had the advertising business figured out! Little did I know that I had the biggest valley in my life just over the horizon!
FOLLOWED BY A PERSONAL VALLEY
Most of the clients that took me to #2 went out of business over the next year, and to add insult to injury, I was given a HUGE quota INCREASE!! Needless to say, I went from being a STAR to a SLUG in a matter of months! This downturn along with some stupid business investments sent us into a financial hole that took us years to recover from. Those years were filled with lots of learning about ourselves, about money, and about business.
Though the times were tough, I believe they were necessary preparation for where we've been put today as we begin to climb yet another mountain peak in our life!
What are some valleys you've been thru in your life and what did you learn from the experience?
Rock on Matt,
I have learned that time is not infinite. Life goes on without us. We all share the same 24 hours and to get the most out of our days we have to manage ourselves and let go of the idea that time is something that we can control.
I have 2 jobs, Real Estate by day and night, and Customer service representative by late night. I run a one man design company that I have chosen to keep low key. I will probably change that soon, but besides the point. I am a full time student, and have a family. My days are packed and brain busting, the time I use is of the essence. I wish I had more. Guess I better manage myself a bit more.
In the end, it is all for the good. Better to be going up, falling down but always going up, than to never be going.
Posted by: David Rhodes | October 06, 2008 at 01:46 PM