A Fortune article of the same title says: "The current recession will change the course of your career. Whether you're damaged or strengthened depends on the way you respond. Can you rise to the challenge?"
Every diamond that exists today went through a process similar to what we are going through now. Will we come out as diamonds, or end up a chunk of coal? That remains to be seen.
When I was a kid, we were told at Christmas that acting bad would bring us nothing but a lump of coal in our stocking. As an adult, if we’ve been very, very good, we may just get a diamond. One is desired, the other despised; yet both are made of carbon.
What is the difference? What makes the diamond the coveted, precious gem that it is, and the coal something we disdain? The same thing that makes a “man or a mouse” out of each one of us; the ability to withstand heat and pressure.
Elemental carbon, or coal, can withstand temperatures of 200-300 degrees Celsius. If the pressure or the temperature gets much higher, the host rock melts.
Some like it hot.
Diamonds, on the other hand, can only be formed under extreme geological conditions. These conditions are when the temperature is greater than 800 degrees Celsius and pressure is 50,000 times atmospheric pressure. These conditions exist only deep below the surface of the earth.
Diamonds are much rarer than coal. While coal is cheap and easily found, diamonds may be formed billions of years before they reach the earth’s surface and go through an arduous process to get here. Diamonds reach us either by a collision of the plates that make up the earth’s surface, through the lava from active volcanoes, or when melt water erodes mountains away and drags the heavy and durable stones (like diamonds) to the quieter creek beds. Diamonds may look pretty; yet they are anything but delicate.
Like carbon, we as human beings go through the heat and pressure every day. We may feel the heat of going through a divorce. We may feel the pressure of losing our jobs, or being faced with a mountain of debts and nowhere to turn. It’s not comfortable, and it’s not easy. But one thing is for sure; there’s no getting away from it.
So while we can’t choose what happens to us, we can choose how we will react. And in so doing, we choose to refine ourselves into diamonds or remain a lump of coal. Whenever I fail at something, be it a relationship or a glorious project that didn’t come out as planned, I remember what Andrew Carnegie said; “Every failure carries with it the seeds of an equivalent or greater success.” I look for the seeds of success in my failure.
What is the difference? What makes the diamond the coveted, precious gem that it is, and the coal something we disdain? The same thing that makes a “man or a mouse” out of each one of us; the ability to withstand heat and pressure.
Elemental carbon, or coal, can withstand temperatures of 200-300 degrees Celsius. If the pressure or the temperature gets much higher, the host rock melts.
Some like it hot.
Diamonds, on the other hand, can only be formed under extreme geological conditions. These conditions are when the temperature is greater than 800 degrees Celsius and pressure is 50,000 times atmospheric pressure. These conditions exist only deep below the surface of the earth.
Diamonds are much rarer than coal. While coal is cheap and easily found, diamonds may be formed billions of years before they reach the earth’s surface and go through an arduous process to get here. Diamonds reach us either by a collision of the plates that make up the earth’s surface, through the lava from active volcanoes, or when melt water erodes mountains away and drags the heavy and durable stones (like diamonds) to the quieter creek beds. Diamonds may look pretty; yet they are anything but delicate.
Like carbon, we as human beings go through the heat and pressure every day. We may feel the heat of going through a divorce. We may feel the pressure of losing our jobs, or being faced with a mountain of debts and nowhere to turn. It’s not comfortable, and it’s not easy. But one thing is for sure; there’s no getting away from it.
So while we can’t choose what happens to us, we can choose how we will react. And in so doing, we choose to refine ourselves into diamonds or remain a lump of coal. Whenever I fail at something, be it a relationship or a glorious project that didn’t come out as planned, I remember what Andrew Carnegie said; “Every failure carries with it the seeds of an equivalent or greater success.” I look for the seeds of success in my failure.
We are a long way from being out of the woods in the current world economic crisis. As we deal daily with the heat and pressure, let's look for the seeds of our future success in the mistakes that we have made and find the upside of this downturn.
Whenever I am faced with a problem, I remember a quote from motivational writer Ralph Marston, which ends with the question: "How can I respond to this challenge so that a year from now, looking back at the experience, I'll be overwhelmingly thankful that it came along?" (The full quote is on our website at http://www.lady4justice.com/index.cfm/hurl/obj=WinWinDivorce/WinWinDivorce.cfm) Using this as a guide in times when I felt the heat and pressure of my own failures, I have been able to plant seeds of success.
We all have the potential to become diamonds. Is it easy? Of course not. If it were, diamonds would be cheap to come by. But is it worth it? That is for you to decide.
We all have the potential to become diamonds. Is it easy? Of course not. If it were, diamonds would be cheap to come by. But is it worth it? That is for you to decide.
"Most people achieved their greatest success one step beyond what looked like their greatest failure." ~Brian Tracy
No comments:
Post a Comment