Sunday Sharies 04.17.22

A QUOTE

"Nothing in this world is good or bad, but thinking makes it so."
— William Shakespeare, English playwright


A QUESTION

What life event felt awful at the time and turned out to be the catalyst for an amazing future state?


A THOUGHT

Think about the series of events that led to this moment. Sitting where you're sitting, in the place you've chosen to live, with the job you've been hired for (or retired from) because you convinced someone you were worth paying. I bet you can identify 5 - 7 critical junctures that brought you here. I think of these milestones as points of inflection.

And I’d venture to say a few of those were unsolicited points of inflection. A disappointing, embarrassing, or painful event - with a specific date and time - that ended up influencing your trajectory in a powerful and rewarding way.

My unsolicited inflection points include a Nigerien coup d'etat in 2010, a layoff from my job in 2014, and the grounding of international flights in 2020. Each of these events immediately changed the course of my life. Without them, you wouldn't know me as the collection of experiences I represent today.

These unexpected twists are like a hard refresh: clearing out your mental browser and forcing you to reorient to the updated version of opportunities available to you.

Who we become is largely how we show up in the wake of our points of inflection.