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Granted πŸͺ„

What to do when your career takes wrong turn. . .

Published 5 months agoΒ β€’Β 2 min read

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Just when you thought everything was going fine. . .

life – and your career – tends to surprise you.

😳 You don't get that promotion you thought was a sure thing

😳 Your company is eaten by an even bigger company

😳 Your boss quits and a new one starts Monday

Seems like time to freak out, right?

Not so fast.

Because what seems like lemons might just be lemonade. You don't actually know.

It reminds me of this Chinese Proverb called Old Man of the Frontier Loses Horse:

Good luck and bad luck create each other
and it is difficult to foresee their change.
A righteous man lived near the border.
For no reason, his horse ran off into barbarian territory.
Everyone [people] felt sorry for him.
[But] His father spoke [to him]:
"Who knows if that won't bring you good luck?"
Several months later,
his horse came back with a group of [good, noble] barbarian horses.
Everyone [people] congratulated him.
[But] His father spoke [to him]:
"Who knows if that won't bring you bad luck?"
Now his house is rich in horses
and the son mounted with joy/loved riding.
He fell and broke his leg.
Everyone [people] felt sorry for him.
[But] His father spoke [to him]:
"Who knows if that won't bring you good luck?"
One year later
the barbarians invaded across the border.
Adult men strung up their bows and went into battle.
Nine out of ten border residents were killed,
except for the son because of his broken leg.
Father and son were protected/both survived.
Hence: Bad luck brings good luck
and good luck brings bad luck.
This happens without end
and nobody can estimate it.
​
β€”Claude Larre et al. Les grands traitΓ©s du Huainan zi, 1993, p. 208–209.

You can see the Wikipedia Page here.

What can we learn from this?

Just when life seems to have exploded in our faces, it's good to remember that we can't know the full consequences of anything.

Worrying about all the what-if's and could be's can be useful to a point – it can help you prepare. But trying to invent and anticipate worries only makes us unhappy.

If we had the benefit of a longer-range view of things, if we could see around that next bend, we might actually realize it's all going to turn out fine in the end.

The trick is acting as if it's ok when you can't see around the corner: not over-reacting, not over-planning, not shooting from the hip.

Instead, trust yourself to be calm, thoughtful, and to wait to see what's around that next bend. Treat the situation mindfully, and do what you can knowing that the situation might look like a lemon, but turn out to be lemonade instead.

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