You Can’t Step Into The Same Stream Twice.
Don’t worry, everything changes.
Back in the day, earlier in our careers, we used to think of our working world as one of familiarity and routine.
We’d see the same people each morning, have the same structure to each day, sit in the same seat, maybe have the same boss, or even stay at the same company for as long as…well, we didn’t know how long, but it definitely felt like somewhere we would lay our hats for a while.
Even if our ambition knew that one day we’d move on, we thought the company and everyone else would stay the same.
That’s because we had no context of the company changing, we only thought about ourselves as the ones who would be changing. The company was pre-established, rooted in systems and processes, forged out of concrete, steadfast and strong, and we’d just slide right in.
And while we sat in these seemingly unmoving structures, we started to discover the rub of office politics, the bump and grind of hierarchy, the spit of gossip, wondering how we’d ever climb the ladder like those above us.
We knew we would evolve within these organizations, acquiring their habits and thoughts as our own, and we were careful to ensure we didn’t scratch the edges of HR to dull the paint of our careers.
When members of The Jolt look back on their careers today, we are reminded of a Jolt that snuggled up to us one night, ruffled our hair, and said, “Hello, don’t worry about a thing, it’s all going to change anyway”.
We now know, that no matter what we did during the day, the company we were a part of, the boss we were reporting to, the product we were selling, the memo we were reading, the email we were fuming over, the mistakes we made, the things we wished we hadn’t said - would, at some point far sooner than later, be gone, and very, very much forgotten.
Like cells in our own bodies, no company ever stays the same. The company you walk into today, isn’t the same company you walk into tomorrow. It might look like it from a distance, a blur of culture and process, but it’s evolving and changing just like you are.
And that, is a really powerful and positive thing for us all to grasp.
When I look back on my old roles, jobs, bosses, projects, policies, processes, f’ups, conflicts & celebrations - they are gone and forgotten. All the companies I worked for are vastly different. Three of them no longer exist. One is unrecognizable.
We don’t think of companies as streams, moving around us.
We think we’re the stream.
But we’re not. And that’s good.
We’re actually watching the stream, flowing around us in a magical alchemy of change. A stream that we can choose to step into with a renewed approach, every single day.
It’s an incredible gift to give ourselves, especially if yesterday was a bit crap.
Which is why we say, you can’t step into the same stream twice.
With Love & Reflection,
The Jolt.
PS We’ve had such a great reaction to the 10 Slides To Yes Masterclass on how to create pitches that persuade and influence others to say yes to you and your ideas, that we’ve extended The Jolt discount offer through end of August. In the words of one Chief Human Resources Officer who gave us a class testimonial, “…Wow!” - they now see how the class gives you a strategic edge, improves your EQ and listening skills, and can make you a person people want to do business with.