This is Why
This post is mostly to remind me of the “why” — why I keep doing what I am doing and to express my gratitude to whoever has been supporting me through the thin and thick.
While I was reading Building a Second Brain (Tiago Forte, 2022), he mentioned that he keeps a folder full of customer testimonials that he has received over the years. At times, he would open up this folder and look at it to get inspiration. It is intriguing, mostly because I am a self-critical person, and I always think it is my responsibility to do my job well. Maybe it is related to my roots and culture, that I should not feel too proud of myself. My upbringing has wired my brain to play down compliments.
But I guess it is a human thing, we tend to lose focus and forget the “why” when we are frustrated. I remembered vaguely in a half-marathon that I ran many years back, I started questioning myself why am I doing this around the 16 KM mark. It was hot and tiring. And for the most part, no one cared even if I quit. When we are so into something, and pouring all our energy and time into something, we start to forget why. Well, we remember “why”, it’s just that we no longer feel that it is as rewarding as we initially thought. Just like my coworker who likes to use the “so-what” method when we are crafting a presentation slide for our customers. Yes, we have helped the customer to modernize the system, so what? Yes, we have successfully achieved something, or we have delivered this project, so what?
Coincidentally, I received feedback from my coworker recently, and I started recollecting all the feedback that I have received. Some of them are shown below
After I had read through them again, I felt grateful for all the heartfelt compliments and kind words. Even more so these compliments are received right after some work that we have done together. Most of the time, I just prefer to think that we successfully did what we did because of teamwork, but too often I forget that I was also part of the team. It reminded me that, there are purposes in the work that I have done and delivered — to create an impact on my customers. Driving them forward and helping them to be successful in their transformation journey. Big or small, it all matters.
Lastly, I just want to express my gratitude to anyone who has been supporting me during this difficult time. Let’s continue to create an impact in work, life, and everything.
