Today I was in Town and managed to catch up with a friend. This was an impromptu meeting. By many accounts my friend is a very successful businessman in his own right with a massive set of skills and an even longer list of achievements. He brilliantly sold his business not long ago and after a super summer of holidays doing all he wanted to do for the last many years, when he joined me there was something different about him.
It took me a while to react, and I understood what was missing: his smile was gone!
How is that even possible? Turns out he had been approached by a head-hunter for a high-level position in someone else’s business. After going through the selection diligence process, he was not the chosen one. He was the runner up.
This played straight in all his fears. One can only imagine the sort of questions and self-doubt that must have been going through his mind. He was now running to another interview for another unsolicited job, as if to prove something to himself! Yet, just before this unsolicited job opportunity was on his table, he was content and enjoying life to its fullest!
Very often we all are like my friend: we go about our day, life perfectly happy. Yet we get tempted with options that play to our inner fears and self-beliefs. I am as guilty of this as anyone else! It took me a lot of practice to understand this and understand what is really meant and what is some unsolicited something that plays with my self-doubt. And we all have some self-doubt! From the tip to the bottom of that tree.
What to do then? Shall we not succumb to it? Shall we just ignore it? Shall we just face our self-doubt? For me the latter works very well! Putting the reasons for my self-doubt into perspective helps me to diminish the sense of doubt and very often makes it disappear altogether. Ultimately, I suppose that is what having control of your life means: see it, understand it, face it, process it and let it go, and whatever you do keep smiling as tomorrow will be a great day!
