By Steve Beseke, beseke1@earthlink.net
Most of us have had our share of challenges over the last 18 months or so with the tragic economy, layoffs and personal pain. Personally, I’ve had to reinvent and retool myself because of a layoff, and humbly serve as a bit of an inspiration for many of you around the world.
The humble success of my resiliency blog and speeches/conversations worldwide have been absolutely gratifying.
But my small piece of the world pales in comparison to our friends (humans and others in Nature) who have had to endure the terrible Gulf oil crisis that seems to go on and on. Talk about a testament to resilience. I can only imagine what they are going through each minute of the (seemingly) never-ending mess.
Folks losing their livelihoods, birds and fish dying, no one having the answers yet to solve the immense crisis. When such devastation happens, how do all of us understand and navigate “what’s next” in our lives – in the world’s life? Humans can do so much good in the world and, yet, they can be so unnecessarily destructive.
As all of us think through this, it reminds me how I’ve seized the day in my life and looked “out of the box” for answers.
The Gulf crisis is totally beyond most of our control, but our everyday work and personal crises may not be if only we find ways to seize the day -with our families, friends, co-workers and especially ourselves.
Please think through how you can seize positively through your day. Here is an example how I have successfully traversed though challenges. Such examples all of us share, and we can learn from each other. (Hopefully, our government and business leaders will find a way to make things right and learn from each other in the Gulf.)
When I was younger, I wanted to be in control of everything in my life and seize every moment of the day. This sounds great, doesn’t it? It is only natural we want to be in control of all aspects of our lives. I am sure BP thought it was in total control of its oil platform and safety mechanisms associated with the drilling…Not!
Personally, I was expending so much energy trying to be in total control that I was losing my resilience edge.
There were just some things I could not control totally at work, home and life in general that were reducing my resilience on things I could ultimately control.
I thought, for example, I was in control of my work life. I was doing great, with fantastic reviews, an “essential” tag placed on me, terrific compensation and much admiration of my peers throughout the company. There, of course, was the awful recent downturn in the economy, but I thought my exemplary performance would keep me in control of my fate. Man, did I have a lot to learn…
Within a matter of a few months of being “essential,” I became expendable no matter how much effort expended and control I thought I had. With no fault of the company, it had to cut to the bone including me. The lesson for me was there are some things – great and small – out of a person’s total control.
I am sure BP is learning this painful lesson…
I hoped this would be my last company I would ever work for. I found you can never feel totally secure even with an A+ work performance record.
I have moved on to have success in many other areas, including resiliency training. I have adapted my control definition, and stayed in personal control of being strong, nimble and resilient. That is, continuing to seize every moment of the day in a slightly more realistic way.
Being nimble, adaptable – and more realistic - in all circumstances will allow you to stay resilient, in control and seize your day. The lesson BP and our nation has learned is similar. Never take anything for granted and never assume a mechanism or strategy will always work. Because, like most things, ultimate control is not always the case.
On a personal level, please think of one aspect of your life you feel vulnerable. Then, ponder how you would adapt and seize the day if an unexpected challenge happened to you. This will help you stay on top of being career and life resilient.
I only wish big oil and other industries were as adaptive, persistent and realistic as most of us are. Future world crises may be avoided and all of us can seize our day. This would not just be for personal or economic benefits of our nation, but the on-going stewardship of our wonderful, yet fragile world.
I look forward to talking with you next week when, hopefully, we will have positive news about the Gulf’s environmental disaster!