The journey of building a good life is fraught with road blocks, failures and seemingly long roads that take you nowhere.
When you encounter any of these, which you definitely will, remember: You can always RESTART.
When a computer system got slow, our IT team would always ask us to restart it. That often solved the problem. Restarting works as well for humans as for machines.
I had to take a pause during my most formative years when I struggled to find what I really wanted to do. Pausing and thinking about what I really wanted to do enabled me to choose a career in information technology. Two years into it, I was laid off due to recession. I was forced to restart the journey and initiate my own business. After few years in business, I decided to gain corporate exposure and that meant restarting into an entry level job and strive to move up the corporate ladder. I worked my way up by taking up diverse and global roles, many of which included doing things that I had NEVER done before. These restarts were supported by bosses and teams I worked with. When I reached the corporate peak leading 680+ people, I had a lot of comfort which was discomforting. Life priorities and lack of challenges led me to restart again and start my own consulting business – this time with 22+ years of experience and diverse skills under my belt. I am pretty sure I will continue this journey of restarting in future as well.
Restarting is not about erasing the past; it means learning from it to create a better future.
Life, after all, is a journey of never-ending new beginnings. In fact, doing things that you have never done before is how we grow and evolve. Seth Godin asks a very pretinent question, “When was the last time you did something for the first time?”
Restarting is not easy. It requires you to:
- Be self-aware about your intrinsic skills, needs and desires
- Take a pause and think through the inventory of what you have, what you want to do with what you have and what difference you wish to make in the world.
- Give up on the fear of failure to embrace the unknown
- Be comfortable with the ambiguity and uncertainty that comes with working in new domains and with new people solving new kinds of problems
- Unlearn and let go of your preconceived beliefs about how things should work
- Learn at the speed of change, be adaptable and respond to changing and challenging situations with agility
- Give up on your need to be on a stable ground and be willing to step into uncharted territories (which might include moving places, mindset and industries)
- Let go of your ego, and the need to be seen by others as successful
- Ask for help from others when needed to accomplish what you have set out for
- Build a network and be a part of newer communities around your interests
- Take regular pauses to reflect and put your learning from last step into the next one
Being able to restart is a super power in an uncertain world. It is almost like setting the dried weeds on fire so that you can uncover the fertile ground rich with possibilities and untapped potential.
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