When the going gets tough
Finding things to be a real grind? Here's what you can do.
(Today’s Morning Musely is a re-post from November 18 last year. Every year that this substack is running I’ll be posting the below on this date, for reasons you’ll understand below. Wade).
So. How are you?
Yeah, and how are you really?
I gotta be honest. It’s a real grind.
In fact, I started this substack as a result of how tough things are at the moment.
The normal volume of work that I’d have expected over this quarter has really dried up.
Combination of the economic conditions and also companies choosing to withhold their discretionary spends before Christmas. I work primarily as a Creative Coach, helping people and teams unlock their creative problem solving potential.
While I know it’s a powerful must-have skill set in any team, for most it’s a ‘nice-to-have’ and it means I have to consistently highlight the benefits of it before I even pitch the fact that I can help them.
I’ve got nothing to complain about really.
I have my health. I have a loving family. I run my own business and we are staying afloat.
But still, doubt lingers. Negativity enters. The temptation to woe-is-me the situation commences and I have to stop and check myself.
What is it I’m complaining about again?
Will complaining about the situation help me?
I’m reminded of the 1986 Billy Ocean hit, ‘When the going gets tough’.
Today especially as it would have been my Nan’s 89th birthday.
She loved that song. Not just because it came from one of her favourite movies (‘Jewel of the Nile’ starring Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner & Danny DeVito), but it was pretty much her life motto.
Nan worked in an industry she loved for over 50 years.
Most of the time six days a week and on the seventh she’d bake and cook and feed the extended family.
She was very much an inspiration to me and only passed away in 2022.
Born in a tougher era, she knew the value of hard work. And as my Mum says she was also ‘born to be busy’. Nan didn’t really stop until she couldn’t any more.
No matter what the task, project, or even obstacle - she crashed through every wall. Sometimes successfully, other times not. But it never deterred her. She persisted. She wanted to live and wanted to get a lot of life out of her years.
So this morning, in honour of Nan, I’m reverting back to my own mantras - in work and in life.
If it is to be, it’s up to me.
Strive to be of value.
If you don’t ask, you don’t get.
Sometimes wrong, never in doubt.
Just keep moving.
Inaction kills. There’s no control with inaction. If you are trying things and continually moving forward then you’ll earn the right to get lucky.
Persistence rewards the brave. Nan knew it.
When the going gets tough? The tough get going.
Have a great day,
Wade
Thinking of you Wade.