“strive to achieve or attain something in the face of difficulty or resistance”
The recent three days spent with an inspirational coach #Rich Litvin, generated an insight…
How much struggle do you think is required for success and achieving your goals?
I used to believe I need to struggle to achieve and to push really hard, but the truth is when I remove the struggle I arrive at my destination with greater ease.
I used to equate lack of struggle with laziness, but it dawned on me that struggling is in fact laziness of mind. Looking at that from a different perspective, struggle leads to resistance of creativity and flow.
On reflection, when I approach my goals with a sense of struggle, and aim to succeed just through persevering, such a mindset does not allow for creativity and flow to come in. In that state I tend to overwhelm people with my intensity, I invade their space with my intentions, and as a result often push them away.
When I take time to be in the flow, open my heart to different ways and opinions, allow for the mindset of abundance rather than the mindset of scarcity and resistance, amazing things happen. I let my intense energy turn to positivity. This is when people want to spend time with me. This is the state from where I can reach for my mission with a clear intention.
Where do you struggle in your professional or personal life, and how do you think you could arrive at your destination with less struggle?
Let me share a story with you:
Many years ago I was on the train from Hamburg to Frankfurt/ Main for a selection day at Dresdner Bank which kickstarted my career in finance.
I was in my common state of struggle and perseverance doing last minute finance books’ revision. Unexpectedly, a businessman next to me invited me to have a conversation with him over lunch in the dining cabin of the train. That is not normally an offer I would accept when I am in my focused mode of revision and preparation. However, there was something in a way he spoke that lead me open my mind to a different way of spending crucial for me pre-interview hours.
It turned out he was a CEO of a German Mittelstand business. Instead of struggling over my finance books and models, I had an amazing conversation over a lunch. My companion gave me an insightful advice for my interview day. That conversation helped me to be myself. As a result, I was hired as the first Russian and youngest graduate into a highly competitive at a time Dresdner Bank management trainee programme.
I opened my heart and gave up struggle for couple hours and that helped me achieve an impossible for me at that time goal.
When are you in a struggle mode and when are you in a flow? I invite you to share your story if this resonated with you.
Also published on Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/struggle-tatiana-poliakova/