Lesson of the year: Let time speak
Naturally, we humans, have our own way of thinking, acting and in general expressing our feelings. Our nature is contrasted with characteristics that vary among people such as those associated with specific cultures, generations and real life experiences. Besides that, the pace of life is constantly changing and humans are eventually forced to make hundreds of decisions on a daily basis. Some of them significant and some of them not. But, how many decisions are driven by our own ego? It’s also remarkable, the human tendency to construct hypothetical scenarios in order to justify a decision. Or even the tendency to question and criticize next door in favour of our own theories and way of thinking.
Being more concrete, 2019 was one of the most challenging years of my life, both on personal and professional levels. During the year, together with my wife, we had to deal with a critical project, the construction of our own house. From the very beginning, we came through several blocking factors such the specifics of the plot, the growth of the construction industry, the paperwork required by authorities. None of those was so significant to actually stop us but, what proved to be surprisingly difficult was to handle and absorb criticism for our decisions made on the approach to be followed and the consultants chosen. Due the nature of the project and the construction industry itself, mistakes cannot be fully avoided and therefore, you need to rely on other’s professionalism, integrity and trustworthiness. But who guarantees those qualities and how? Why A and not B? And what if the end result does not meet the requirements? And what if, why, and what if…? Countless questions, endless discussions. Sometimes constructive but most of the times with negative outcome. Up to the point that we decided to freeze any kind of detail discussion and just let the time, and the end result, speak of our behalf.
Today, that the project is successfully completed, I admit that we made wrong decisions on several topics. Nevertheless, I could proudly say, that if I had the chance to travel back in time at the beginning of the project, in principle, I would have made the same decisions.
What I am trying to say with above short story is that, as the famous say goes “Rome was not built in a day”. Your attempts won’t be fruit tomorrow or the day after. You all need to be patient and, above all, keep going and bypassing the blocking stones in your way. Do not rush yourselves neither for taking a decision nor in criticizing a situation. Take the time to reflect, think logically and feel emotionally through your options from different angles before acting. Even if you make a mistake be honest with yourself, recognize it and build on it. Because time is not focused in a single moment or two. So, let it speak on your behalf.