Is it really December? Businesses and schools are winding down for the summer break. The cricket has started. Christmas is rapidly approaching. With that comes a quick close to 2013.
2013 has been a year of adventures, obstacles and challenges. More than anything else it has been a year of new momentum. I could not be more excited by the incredible opportunities that have arisen this year:
- Leading the HICAPS business to great growth and transformation in the year its 15th anniversary
- Sharing in many exciting activities in the broader NAB business and its Yammer network.
- Seeing Spectra Training show the way forward in a rapidly changing Registered Training Organisation sector in Australia
- Melbourne Chamber Orchestra has created great performances, taught lessons and realised artists’ ambitions.
- Being a part of Disrupt Sydney
- Advising Sidekicker
- Joining Change Agents Worldwide
- being a part of the movement for The Responsive Organisation
- meeting so many amazing people and learning so much; and
- so many other inspiring moments
Embrace the Chaos and all its Obstacles
I was reflecting on all that has happened this year when Dany DeGrave tweeted yesterday about the need to maintain momentum in the face of obstacles:
Obstacles are the work. They are just things to go round, over or through. Keep up the momentum of #change @DanyDeGrave
— Simon Terry (@simongterry)
Obstacles are the work. They show you have chosen to have an impact. They help us see our purpose. They provide the challenge and interest.
Obstacles are proof that your work matters to others. These challenges remind us that change is human and social. They encourage us to share knowledge with our networks, to work aloud and to pay attention to the knowledge moving around us.
Obstacles help us reflect on what matters. Pushback make us ask new or obvious questions. An orderly progression of success can be quite tedious and generate its own doubts. If success is that easy, are we missing something?
If there weren’t obstacles, our talents would not be required, we would not learn and not grow in the work. If there weren’t obstacles, we would not get the rewards of overcoming them. If there weren’t obstacles, we would not have the joys of collaborating with others to move forward around over, under or through.
Your Obstacles. Your Momentum. Your Year.
So next time you are considering a year of obstacles, remember the hard work proves that you are on the right track. Obstacles are proof of your momentum.
I bought this poster at the midpoint of this year. It has been a reminder ever since that every year is my year.
Every year is your year too. Move past challenges. Reflect on the successes.
Maintain momentum in doing whatever you need to do to make it your year. Your impact is up to you.
If you would like your own or other great posters, the source is The Poster List.
