My family thinks I can fall into a pile of shit and come up smelling like roses, and I can see why they might think that, but I’m not sure it’s accurate; let me explain.
I was thinking of this yesterday when something quite exciting occurred. My daughter, who has been thinking about applying for her first part-time after-school job, was given an opportunity to trial at the company I work for.
How lucky for her that her first job meant that she didn’t need to do an interview or a resume, but was simply in the right place at the right time.
And I feel that has happened to me so many times over the years.
But what I want to challenge is that I think this is because I try so many things and I’m not afraid of failing.
Being in the right place at the right time is just a numbers game.
Often I’ll be in the right place at the wrong time (like when I left my dream job at Canva), or the wrong place at the wrong time. But the more I put myself in different places without fear of making a mistake, the more likely I am to be in the right place at the right time at some point.
I know friends and family have probably baulked at some of my decisions, but I can turn some of those around into opportunities.
Even if you aren’t meant to be in that situation, it teaches you something, you grow, or you meet someone who opens the path to something better or more aligned.
What is the saying... There are no mistakes, only lessons?
So even though many only see the positive and amazing outcomes, there are many growth situations where I need to pivot or overcome. I’ve made plenty of crazy decisions; some have worked out brilliantly. I’ve taken risks others haven’t, and they haven’t always worked out. I’ve been nonconforming in many of my life decisions. I don’t tend to follow the crowd.
So maybe I can turn those shitty moments into something more rosy by changing my perspective, or by taking what was a good lesson and moving forward?
I’ve spent the last couple of years rebuilding from the ground up, one pillar at a time. If you’re at the beginning of that process, Choose Yourself is where I’d tell you to start.
