Learning Out Loud: "How can we be more accepting of our journey without becoming complacent?"

I've been reflecting on this a lot recently. One of the areas of feedback I'm working on from our Board of Trustees, is the extent to which I frame things as "half empty" vs "half full". I need to ensure that we don't allow our ambitious strategic goals to overshadow the incredible milestones we are achieving along the way.

There's a popular saying, "shoot for the moon, because even if you miss, you'll land among the stars". This means we shouldn't consider reaching "the stars" a failure. While it's important to aim high, we should also acknowledge the progress we make towards our goals, no matter how small. The lesson here is that we wouldn't have been able to reach the stars without initially aiming for the moon.

#BreneBrown shared that her organisation values #excellence and #beauty in all things. She says, "We are not jacking around. If a font is wrong, I will notice it and my staff will hear about it from me." (I can relate to the font example!) I've been reflecting on the line between pursuing excellence and falling into the trap of a destructive perfectionism that ignores the incremental shifts of progress.

So, how can! we be more accepting of our journey without becoming complacent?

Self-acceptance means acknowledging and embracing all parts of our journey, including our strengths and weaknesses, successes and failures. It means being curious about areas for improvement, rather than frustrated by them. (Read that last part again!)

Self-acceptance also means enjoying the journey with all its ups and downs and not simply waiting for the "win" before we celebrate. It's an essential component of personal growth and organisational development.

However, self-acceptance should not lead to complacency. Those of us working towards social change, equity, and justice cannot afford to be complacent. But we can strive for improvement while also seeing where we are today through a lens of grace. This is the same advice we give to children and young people. Imagine holding a young person to the kind of “all or nothing, today!” standards that we sometimes hold our organisations to?

Here are some tips to help us maintain a balance between self-acceptance and self-improvement: (They can be done at an individual, team or organisation level)

• Practice self-reflection: Regularly reflect on your thoughts, emotions, and behaviours. Assess areas for improvement and take action to address them.
• Celebrate your successes: Recognise and celebrate your accomplishments, big or small. This helps boost self-esteem and motivates you to continue making progress.
• Embrace failure: Recognise that failure is a natural part of the learning process and use it as an opportunity to grow and improve.
• Embrace constructive criticism: Be open to feedback and use it as an opportunity to learn and grow.
• Cultivate self-compassion: Be kind and compassionate towards yourself and others, even when you make mistakes or face setbacks. This helps maintain a positive mindset and stay motivated.

#Excellence is one of our values at UK Youth But pursuing excellence, cannot mean that we shouldn't acknowledge the small and incremental wins along the way. As my Board keeps telling me, "self-acceptance and self-improvement are not mutually exclusive." In fact, by accepting, appreciating, and loving our current state, we can create the solid foundation required for collective growth and system impact for young people.

I don't know about you, but I'm all for more of that!

#learningoutloud #reflection #leadership #CEO #unlockingyouthwork #growthmindset