In 1940, only a few weeks after Winston Churchill took over as British Prime Minister, France was defeated by the Nazis leaving Great Britain as the only European superpower to stand and fight against the would be German occupiers.
In short time London and parts of southern England were bloodied and beaten badly to a pulp from the relentless aerial bombings by the Germans.
But Churchill, often considered by historians to be the greatest wartime leader of the 20th century, would not give up and wouldn’t let his countrymen give in to tyranny either. His spirit, leadership, and oratory skills helped Britain find their inner strength to band together and find strategic partners who would help them beat the Germans. He’s famously quoted as saying “If you’re going through hell, keep going.”
On a different scale we all have mini-hells we go through each day, week, month, and year. It could be as simple (or complicated) as a relationship in our business or home life, a start-up company beginning to go sour, or a dream not unfolding the way we envisioned. In these moments of hell it’s important that we keep going. It’s a given that we should look for encouragement from our supporters but we must also ask ourselves important questions—questions that will guide and coach us to victory.
What’s going well? It’s important to take stock here. When things aren’t going the greatest, sometimes it’s easy to say nothing’s going right; and it’s here that’s easiest to drop what you’re doing and give up. Asking this question also allows us to build on the good stuff and make it grow.
What would I like to see improve? What do you actually want? Do you remember? Or has your want or endpoint morphed under the cloudy vision of disappointment. Asking this question gets us back to basics and to take a fresh look at the gears of the machine that might need a little extra oil.
Who or what can help me get where I want to go? Pretty self explanatory. No man is an island and we all need help from someone or something to get where we need to go.
Who is doing a similar thing/has a similar goal as myself? It’s important that we see if other people have gone through what we have or doing something similar in the business arena as we are. By looking at the similarities we can borrow some key points from their success and use them to create our own.
Who can I help? This is a great way to remind ourselves that this journey isn’t all about us. This can be an offering of help beyond the scope of your comfort zone or business; or it can be a simple wake up call for you to figure out the value you offer and a target client base.
What am I grateful for? Just a good thing to check in with. Even if it’s one thing that you’re grateful for, it’s something that’s in your life for a reason and something you’ve nurtured or attracted to yourself that is a success. Success breeds confidence and confidence is something you need to make it through that mini-hell.
Great post, Josh. Sometimes when we get caught up in stressful situations, that's all we can see. But taking a second look at the whole picture can change the scenario. I've even had some "aha" moments doing this.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this message today.