one from the archives: take your time
A photograph from our old front garden, taken about 6 years ago.
“In order to keep my law license active, every year I'm required to attend 15 hours of continuing legal education. Some time ago, I attended a professional responsibility course by the very funny Sean Carter, a lawyer who uses humour to educate. I remember at one point during his talk, he said, "I would just like to tell you -- and I mean this with Christian love -- you all really suck."
His point was that no matter how great we thought that we were as lawyers, we weren't nearly as great as we were going to become. He said he remembers 5 years ago when he thought he was doing really great work, but now, when he looks back at that work, he's somewhat embarrassed by it -- and this is a good thing, because he always wants to keep growing and evolving as a lawyer. In fact, if five years hence he didn't look at the work he was doing today and feel a bit embarrassed, he would worry about his own growth and progress. He posited that those of us sitting in the audience probably feel the same about our work from years past, and that years hence, we would be amazed at our own growth.”
I first wrote those words on this blog 6 years ago. This week, I paged through the archives from around that time, and I have to admit: I do believe that my work has evolved. I don’t know that I believe my work sucked 5 years ago, but I’ve certain done a few pivots that I’m proud of: my speaking career continues to grow, and in that time, I also began my one-on-one coaching practice, that grows with every passing month. As I mentioned yesterday, I haven’t photographed as much as I’ve done in the past; yet, I think the quality of my photography has definitely improved, and this past weekend showed me that my passion for it hasn’t waned.
Thank heavens.
So I re-share these words with you today, in the event that you’re feeling a bit stuck. Go back and look at what you were doing 5 years ago, and see if you don’t see progress. I bet you do. And rest assured: you keep plugging at it, 5 years from now you’re going to surprise yourself with what you’ve been able to accomplish.
Soundtrack: The greatest by Sia (featuring Kendrick Lamar)
don't forget to mark the milestones.