Sometimes, The RIGHT PATH Is Not The EASY PATH

 

Sometimes, The RIGHT PATH Is Not The EASY PATH.  BUT NOT to defend those WHO opted for the EASY PATH and fail, BUT the real-life truth is that to everyone of us, that EASY PATH is just too alluring, too tempting to ignore or simply bypass in our considerations for the most obvious reasons.  Least efforts to be exerted.  Shortest time to achieve.  And often times, they have the lowest risks [simply because almost everyone have taken that path and have succeeded].  Fair enough.  At the workplace, entry-level employees these days seem to think their career paths should be laid out like a blueprint.  Graduated with a university degree.  Get the right job.  And then, one thing will follow another until they reach their goal.  BUT for the longest time, I always believed that there is NO such thing as an 'ideal path'.  That blueprint for success is personal to each person as you're the only one WHO can discover your passions and talents by using your intuition and by being curious and reflective enough💚💛💜

BUT here's the thing.  If we can seriously consider to add a few key role models to inspire your own blueprint, your path will likely lead you NOT just to a good career BUT even to a good life.  NOTE that the adjective 'good' has multiple relative definitions.  WHAT is good for me may not be at par to your level of 'goodness'.  True, it is easy to focus on significant milestones likes salaries and promotions as benchmarks for career success and progress BUT there are other ways to mark the richness and prosperity of a career💧💧💧

Without being defensive, if and WHEN we do consider taking another path that's different from most, if not all, the potential discouragement can creep in so quick and fast, and before you know it, that grows [OR worsens] and ends up feeding into your own doubts.  Everyone else seems to be experiencing success BUT you have either NOT had success yet OR repeatedly kept running into failures.  And before you know it, that can make you want to give up your current path and take another one instead [even if you really loved WHAT you were doing before.  After all, you want success too, right?  And if you keep running into failure, you WON'T feel that there is much of a reason to continue.  Quite multiple times in the past, it was inevitable for me to look around people I know up close and start comparing as to WHY they seem to have the 'support structures' in the path they were taking WHEREAS I was forlorn and desolate😡😡😡

During those 'tougher than tough' times,  I ended up with multiple unanswered questions.  WHERE was my success leading me to?  WAS I really chasing the right goals for me?  WAS I doing anything correctly, if at all?  Those were the level of doubts hovering all over me then.  NOT until I reached that realization that for some people, they will have those fortunate events happening much in their favor as they continued to live their lives.  WHEREAS others would have run-ins with failure itself more often than they would like.  In the end, regardless of WHAT was going on, I knew I took the RIGHT PATH, even if more often, they were NOT the easy paths💥💥💥

Our takeaway:  Regardless as to WHICH path you will eventually take, it will be beneficial if you realize that you've worked hard and made those tough choices in order to get there and once you reach it, you will finally be able to say [and beat your chest] that you did achieve that success, proving that you took the RIGHT PATH EVEN IF it was NOT the EASY PATH😗😗😗

Sometimes, We Take Our Life For Granted [Only To Realize That We Got ONE LIFE]!

Sometimes, We Take Our Life For Granted [Only To Realize That We Got ONE LIFE]!

This is NOT a headline-grabbing stuff BUT generally, I observe that some of us [and I'm guilty of that sometime in my past] take life for granted UNTIL we DON'T, OR worse, UNTIL we CAN'T.  And WHILE some of us DON'T take it for granted once we realize that our time is pretty short in this world, sadly for others, they literally run out of time before they could take out part of it to think about its scarcity.  WHEN was the last time we took a step back from our chaotic life and showed gratitude for being alive?  Sadly, some of us start our days either being anxious by our life's problems OR frustrated at yesterday's brutalities WHILE neglecting the 'miracle happening' with every rising sun.  Sometimes, We Take Our Life For Granted [Only To Realize That We Got ONE LIFE]📗📙📘

Think about it, we never ask WHY shouldn't our bodies had given up on our own self in the night considering that many of us NEVER bother to take of them.  I came across this impressive one-liner from the late great Steve Jobs: 'IF YOU LIVE EACH DAY AS IF IT WAS YOUR LAST DAY, SOMEDAY YOU'LL MOST CERTAINLY BE RIGHT'.  That made me realize life's mysteries and truths [including the NOT so obvious truths].  That made me realize life's limitations limitations💦💦💦

Oh Oh Oh, that was the first time I got to think about death and my mortality.  Way back, living the better part of the decade knowing this, that led me to realize the directions in life.  Despite all that, there were times WHEN I still forgot this lesson as much as many of us, sometimes ending up even messing my life.  Admittedly, I knew the intellectual concept of death BUT several times in the past I forgot it as a reality until I realized then that I had to put a concrete effort for every conscious breath I have💥💥💥

All these times, I took knowing for realizing WHEN they are two quite different things. We often know WHAT is right OR wrong  BUT we get to realize it WHEN it intersects with our radius of reality and suddenly becomes all real.  A smoker reads that smoking cause heart strokes BUT he DOESNT stop until he gets hit with a minor stroke [sadly].  Knowledge itself is NOT power until we can think that knowledge is as real in our life as it is on paper😌😌😌

Our takeaway:  No one amongst us can deny the fact that this 21st century has been as chaotic and overwhelming as we have all anticipated and adding to the fact that even this is going to end one day DOESN'T help much with the motivation to live.  However, just like anything, it can be a glass half full OR half empty. NOT to scare anyone of us BUT dude, to quote, our 'LIFE IS NOT A STOPWATCH.  IT IS A COUNTDOWN TIMER' BTW'.  Back to our dilemma, Sometimes, We Take Our Life For Granted [Only To Realize That We Got ONE LIFE]!!!

Sometimes, CORRECT Decisions Are UNPOPULAR Decisions

Sometimes, CORRECT Decisions Are UNPOPULAR Decisions

Regardless of your calling or vocation, from the time you wake up, experts say that on average we have to make around 35,000 decisions PER DAY, whew!  Assuming people spend around seven hours per day sleeping [and thus, blissfully DECISION-free], that makes roughly 2,000 decisions per hour or one decision EVERY two seconds, whew!  So, can we agree that we have a recurring challenge at hand wherein sometimes, CORRECT Decisions Are UNPOPULAR Decisions📗📙📘

Early in my career, I [absolutely wrongly] thought that a great DECISION was one that attracted widespread approval.   When my expat bosses and even my colleagues smiled and nodded their collective heads, it reinforced [at least within myself] that I was 'spot on' in my DECISION-MAKING.  BUT here's the BUT.  As time wore on, I saw the fallacy of my approach.  Seeking broad consensus requires considerable compromise to incorporate each person's perspective.  The eventual result is a DECISION that is the lowest common denominator, a choice that everyone can live with  BUT no one is really happy with💦💦💦

Worse of worse, consensus-seeking is almost always excruciatingly slow, and the higher up a leader does climb, the less often they are afforded the luxury of time.  Through my years with global and MNC entities, I was often asked to make quick and critical decisions in response to sensitive events wherein the bottom line was NOT to miss out our contractual commitments to our 'encircled' super-valued clients.  After making such DECISIONS, I would do a personal 'post-mortem' and since many DECISIONS were made under pressure, I felt they were 'GOOD ENOUGH' if no better.  BUT to me, 'GOOD ENOUGH' is, honestly based on my stringent standards,  NOT GOOD ENOUGH❎❎❎

Key thing here is HOW to minimize conflict WHEN making unpopular DECISIONS.  WHEN the Covid-19 pandemic hit us all, the typical decisions of leaders have gone overboard, way beyond the conventional areas of expense budget and staff training.  Suddenly, thrown into our laps were DECISIONS about masks, vaccines and testing.  In short, the types of DECISIONS we are making have a broader impact😐😐😐

Our takeaway:  Times have changed way too fast, from complicated to extremely complicated cases.  WHETHER our decisions are for our family OR our organization, we are not shielded from grappling with DECISIONS that even touch on an employee's possible autoimmune disease.  HOW do we then support our family especially when a family member, like a parent at an advanced age, needs your attention?  WHEN do we make exceptions to the rules we agree upon?  Given these realities, it's NOT surprising that those affected by your DECISIONS are more vocal in expressing their opinions and pushing back than in the past.  So, sometimes, CORRECT DECISIONS can be UNPOPULAR DECISIONS❕❕❕

Sometimes, You're Better Off with NON-DECISIONS

Sometimes, You're Better Off with NON-DECISIONS

Sometimes, You're Better Off with NON-DECISIONS !   BUT before I get misconstrued, let me qualify that we're NOT encouraging INDECISIVENESS at all.  On the other hand, I can be a self-proclaimed advocate of DECISIVENESS because approximately 95% of the time in my past years, I'll humbly admit that I made FEARLESS DECISIONS not out of cockiness but as INFORMED DECISIONS💠💠💠

To align, let's agree on what NON-DECISIONS really as this involves suppressing challenges to the status quo and suppressing the addition of new issues to an agenda.  Issues then are excluded from an agenda because they are threatening in some direct way OR because of the competition for the limited space for one's agenda📗📙📘

So what's that gap between DECISIONS and NON-DECISIONS?  NON-DECISIONS avoid direct and sometimes even tacit confrontation.  NON-DECISION-MAKING focuses not on such direct use of power BUT on its indirect manifestations.  As such, power can be exercised in the absence of a direct and overt threat.  Psychologists also termed MOBILISATION of BIAS as the primary function of NON-DECISION-MAKING💵💴💷

So, when is a NON-DECISION good enough?  WHEN an imminent one [either FOR or AGAINST] will be worse off than a NON-DECISION.  Classic example is buying something now selling at a BIG DISCOUNT but that item is NOT a MUST-BUY [but a NICE TO BUY] for now but you simply want to take advantage of a hefty discount. BUT at that time, you were facing cash flow issues.  So, why not a NON-DECISION because that leaves you better off than reaching a DECISION❎❎❎

BTW, holding in abeyance DECISIONS does NOT mean you are foregoing with that impending decision BUT simply HOLDING IT IN ABEYANCE [until you can surmise the BEST TIMING to put your foot forward].  So, SOMETIMES, YOU'RE BETTER OFF WITH NON-DECISIONS❗❗❗