The Progress in the Quiet Moments

A friend recently asked me if I've ever felt stuck in my career. He had been experiencing disappointment and anger, followed by a strong desire to try again after unsuccessful attempts to move up. He felt powerless because he integrated what he learned into his next steps. Yet, the results were not visible.

It's not surprising that my friend assumed my career growth was always linear. Looking at someone from the outside makes it easy to assume their growth was linear. The danger of assuming is setting unrealistic expectations for ourselves. We make such assumptions more often than we think in different aspects of our lives.

In reality, I've felt stuck many times in my career. I even took three lateral roles before getting promoted, some of which were seen as demotions by others. At one point, I wondered if I would ever get promoted.

What I learned in the process is that even when we believe nothing happens, things do happen. It is only from another angle that we can see them.

• We find clarity about what we really want. We stop pursuing things we don't want.

• We experiment with different approaches and learn what works and doesn’t.

• We become humble and more open to serving others.

• We question and shift many beliefs which are blockers to our growth.

• We meet people who will help us later in our journey.

• We find out who we really are and what we stand for.

Our missions don’t take shape in our peak moments. Those are the moments when we bring our missions to life.

Missions and alignment are taking shape in the quiet moments. Those are the moments when the real magic happens.