Career Heights And Valleys

We are living through ever changing periods of victories and downsides. Professionally or personally. It is not just us. We all have experienced it, even though we do not like to talk about it. Just the depth of each valley and the height of each peak is individual. As well as timing and lengths of each life phase.

All great leaders experienced setbacks. Yes, they have nearly lost their businesses, marriages or health. Steve Jobs, Anthony Robbins, Rhonda Byrne and many, many others. What differentiated them from others is that they were able to find the way back to achieve even higher peaks. They were able to re-start and re-new themselves.

They have understood that “the pain you experience in the valley (of a career or life setback) can wake you up to a truth you have been ignoring about yourself“, as Spencer Johnson stated well.

The bigger heights they decided to achieve, the more efforts it took, the more resistance they faced, the more inner strengths they had to make use of. They had to have the guts to go for victory, for the excitement of conquering the summit. Otherwise they may as as well decide to live „in the valley“ - comfortable, no risk, but empty everyday life, without adrenalin. The decision was only theirs.

The really strong leaders could not stay in the „valley“, as they intuitively knew, that the more up in „the mountains“ (of career or life heights), they manage to get, the wider perspective they obtain. They could learn more about this world, about their small tiny valley, as well as about the other, even higher peaks interesting to reach in the future. They have diged deeper in their soul. They came to piece with themselves. They have possessed even higher confidence in their ability to positively deal with life trials which for sure will come back again in future. They have managed to conquer themselves.

There will continue to be peaks and valleys in life of each of us. Without valleys how would we know we are at a peak? We can shorten the time in the valley if we learn to find the good things from the downtimes. We can prolong the time at the peak if we will be grateful and modest, if we continue to improve things, help others and understand that to value the peak achievement, one has to conquer it himself and one has to go to from time to time back to the valley – not just to recharge the batteries and get stronger for the next climb up.
  
According to advice of Spencer Johnson: ”The errors you make in today’s good times create tomorrow’s bad times. And the wise things you do in today’s bad times create tomorrow’s good times. People who use a Peaks and Valleys approach during bad times make things better when they return to basics, and concentrate on what matters most.” … „Be of more service at work and more loving in life. Uncover the good that is hidden in a bad time and use it to your advantage.” 

Each way to the peak always starts in the valley. Each valley will one day end, when we get outside of ourself. No-one can reach its heights without a journey. No-one stays on the one summit for the rest of his life. There are more summits to conquer. There are more valleys to start the journey at, or to spend rest of each life.

The decision is yours!

"When you want something, the Universe conspires to help you" ( Paolo Coelho - The Alchemist)

“The voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.” (Marcel Proust)

P.S. Inspiration for this blog came from the book of Spencer Johnson: "Peaks And Valleys". Spencer Johnson is the best-selling author of "The One-Minute Manager", "The Gift", and "Who Moved My Cheese?".