Franklin D. Roosevelt wrote, “A smooth sea never made a skillful sailor.” It’s a simple but wise saying because it reminds us about the presence and importance of hardships in our life. Most people do everything they can to avoid hardship, discomfort, or pain, but there is a strange thing that happens when we try to do this.
Contrary to our desire for things to be easy, we only learn new skills and gain strength by overcoming challenges.
The laws of growth dictate the tallest and strongest oak tree in the forest is not sheltered from the wind, storm, and sun. No, it is nature’s law that the strongest and tallest oak tree has had to struggle for its existence against the winds and rains and scorching sun.
Where are the current challenges in your business and personal life? Take a moment to reflect on and lean into these challenges. Can you acknowledge the importance of these obstacles in your life? Hint: they are often opportunities hidden in disguise.
If you don’t have any big challenges that come to mind at the moment, what skills need sharpened while the seas are smooth, so that you are prepared for the next challenges and road blocks when they inevitably arrive?
While there is almost no limit to the amount of time, energy and money practice owners will spend in order to obtain new technical skills in optometry, here are the three areas of professional development in the next 3-5 years that will pay bigger dividends than any technical skill:
- Development of human capital – (the skills, knowledge, and experience possessed by an individual or team, in terms of their value or cost to an organisation.)
- Deployment of strategy– the quality of the implementation in your practice.
- Leadership – both your own and developing the leaders on your team.
I’ll be continuing to work with you to develop and sustain these critical areas of the business which are often overlooked (at best) and sometimes starved (at worst) in the pursuit of goals and objectives.
Remember to lean into your challenges. You are stronger than you know