Reminded by a spaceman to enjoy the journey...

This morning I had one of those nice moments of energising reflection (my colleagues will testify how annoyingly positive I was today), which was the result of listening to an astronaut, a late night heated debate and an early morning run in a storm.

I have talked before about my three guiding career principles…

1. every day add value,
2. continually learn,
3. enjoy it.

If one of the three is consistently missing – review. If two are missing – make a change. Why? Because I believe life and your career is about continually being on a journey that you enjoy – not accepting the destination you have reached or becoming stressed about a destination you aspire to reach. I can also be guilty of not always appreciating the journey and becoming negative in the challenges of the here and now.

Recently I have been reading Colonel Chris Hadfield’s book “An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth” and last month had the pleasure of being at an evening with him in Edinburgh. https://chrishadfield.ca/

Here is a short extract from the book….

“Success, to me, never was and still isn't about lifting off in a rocket (though that sure felt like a great achievement). Success is feeling good about the work you do throughout the long, unheralded journey that may or may not wind up at the launch pad. You can't view training solely as a stepping stone to something loftier. It's got to be an end in to itself.”

Hadfield talks brilliantly about the many variables that are out with our control that may affect arriving at our desired destination. Most astronaut’s never get anywhere near a launch and for those that do there are a magnitude of tiny variables that could dash that dream of experiencing space flight. What we can control is our attitude during the journey...enjoy the preparation, the learning, the difficult work that goes unseen but be ready for when opportunities do arrive.

I must admit I often forgot to reflect on my guiding principles and can fall into the trap of becoming frustrated when my vision seems to slip away or negative when my planned path takes a knock-back. This is particularly easy to do in a start-up organisation with rapid product development and huge aspirations to change the industry. When I joined Mudano 6 months ago, it was at the pivotal point of moving from initial two-year start-up into becoming an enterprise organisation while at the same time accelerating many facets of our business and product development. Which means there is lots to do and a whole bunch of stuff I want to influence.

We all are hugely passionate and have strong visions for the future product design, how to change the industry and the different aspects of the business we lead – we have clear views of our destination and are driven to get there. Which is amazing but it can be all too easy to fixate on this and get frustrated by any diversion or not arriving at the destination now! Negativity can perpetuate and we tend to forget the amazing things we have achieved so far.

Last night’s heated debate was a brilliant reflection of this and many of the small events that don’t fall the way I plan (crikey I am luckily if how I envisaged my day working out happens; never mind my future product or career visions). In the moment, I was frustrated and probably negative – which on reflection is state of mind we all slip into all too easy when our plans are interrupted. After the event the debate made me consider why I was so passionate about one point or how can I avoid sweating the little things and slipping into a negative mindset.

The realisation is there is stuff I really care about, and should probably direct my career aspirations towards, but then again there was stuff I was simply fixated on my own singular view of the correct path. In the main any frustration wasn’t really about the thing that we were debating in that moment but because I was too worried about the destination I have in mind and getting there quickly, forgetting the journey to get there.

Which brings us to this morning and the final moment of reflection when meeting Lynsey for our usual VERY early morning run. We stepped out the hotel into a gale force storm and both shuddered for a moment but then just went for it (hell it wasn’t what we would have chosen but it will be an experience all the same). It was during this run while battling storm winds, rain and flooding that I reflected on what I love most about running – not the destination but being in the moment, on the journey and being flexible about the route. I found joy in the challenge of the weather, taking a different to battle the wind and making fun out of leaping over new water features. I didn’t think about how long was left or getting back to the hotel, the destination was of course the target but I was more involved in enjoying the journey.

As a long-distance runner getting to my destination 50, 70 or 100 miles away is a huge achievement but it is not where I focus my energy. I focus on preparation and then being in the moment while running; focusing on the next step and adjusting my gait, lifting my head, learning about my body all the time or just playing with the terrain to keep enjoying every moment. There are far too many things out with my control that could stop my finishing the race, so I focus on my attitude and enjoying every minute. Plus, once I do get to the finish the achievement is shortly celebrated (well usually late into the night with a beer or two!!) as I am immediately thinking about the next race and have started another journey.

The flip-side of this are those one-time marathon runners you meet that just want to say they have completed one marathon. The end of the race and the medal was it for them. They tell you how they hated every day of training and how the race itself was torture. They get the medal and vow to never run again. It allows seems sad to spend nine months training and not enjoy it and then to get a short moment of glory but no sustaining change after that.

Which on reflection is what I have loved about every role I have ever had... it has been the journey, the value I have left behind and the continual personal learning that I have gotten most joy from - not the ideas I delivered, major implementations or solutions created (these are all achievements yes but I just move on to the next one and the next). Maybe I won’t get the chance of my dream career role, maybe the big change I want to make won't happen or maybe this month I can’t focus on what I want to do…. however, I can control my attitude through continually learning and preparing myself for when the chances arrive. Learning to appreciate all the bumps in the road for the learning they provide and as a step along the journey while also by being flexible in my destination - then I can enjoy the journey and the diversions!!

In the last six months, I have probably achieved more than in any other period and seen our team at Mudano deliver a huge amount of change. We have massive aspirations and want to do so much more every day, however, as the spaceman and stormy run reminded me… I have a destination in mind (better still I have a few) and should feel good during the hard work, find energy in the value delivered every day and be positive about all the learning throughout the journey.

Life is a constant journey, you reach one destination and then start thinking about the route to the next. So you may as well enjoy being on it!

Have a positive day, Craig.

NB: Please ignore any typos / grammatical errors - writing this on a bumpy plane, my brain works faster than my hands and I have important work to get on with!