After we have grounded ourselves and made clearer sense of the situation, our third step in learning to use change to become stronger and more inspired is to find more options for how we might move forward.
When so much change is happening all at once, only three things are certain. One is that we cannot predict what is going to happen next. The second is that all ways forward are likely to be difficult. And the third is that the ways of doing things that used to work in the past might not work any more.
Success in a time of change no longer comes from being able to predict the future or repeat the past. It comes from finding what will most inspire us (and the people around us) to keep going: to long to make it happen, no matter what happens. And the more alternatives we find, the more likely it becomes that we will find that the option that inspires us most.
Thomas Edison didn’t invent the lightbulb by looking for better ways of making candles. He succeeded because he felt inspired to change the world. And every time he ‘failed’ he said:
“I have not failed, I’ve just found 10,000 ways that don’t work.”
Then he moved on to his next attempt.
The more alternatives we uncover, the more likely we are to discover the ‘lightbulb’ that will inspire us to keep going no matter what happens: the future we are longing to create.
What inspires you most about the work you are doing today? What would happen if you were working on something that inspired you (and the people around you) even more?
Adapted from The Churning, Inner Leadership: a framework and a set of tools for building inspiration in a time of change.
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