Avoiding complacency
If I was to attempt to summarise the myriad of ‘inspirational’ quotes and philosophies that I am supposed to follow to ensure a successful working life, then it seems to be I am being told that I should not be happy with what I have nor believe that my current position is in anyway a final ‘destination’. In other words do not be complacent. But I am concerned that this is also trying to convince me that I shouldn’t be content with what I have. But I beg to differ.
I am not advocating that we shouldn’t strive to do great things or reach for more, but that the reasons for doing this should not be because we are unhappy with what we have.
There does seem to be some sort of suggestion that by ‘accepting’ our current situation we are accepting a sub-optimal outcome. We should all keep striving for more – so don’t think what we have is good, that will just encourage complacency…..bollocks
I don’t see why the two outcomes need to be mutually exclusive – just because I think that what I have now is really quite good, doesn’t mean that I don’t think there are opportunities to make things better. It definitely doesn’t mean that in my working life, I am not continually assessing my worth, thinking of new ideas, considering other ways of doing things or just generally thinking about how I can continue to progress. In other words, it doesn’t mean I am complacent.
I fully appreciate that my experiences over the last few years are not the ‘everyday’ and that the perspective this has given me could be skewed by the challenges I have faced since my stroke but I am pretty convinced that being content does not mean you are on the path to unhappiness and mediocrity
I have attempted to distill my thoughts into four key points – because everyone loves a list!
- It’s not insurmountable:
I wish that I was a better writer that could easily describe the mental anguish of being clearly and easily able to see your goal right in front of your face but you just can’t reach it. In hospital, I was completely reliant on a nurse’s assistance to get from my shower chair into my wheelchair. When I required the assistance I would press a ‘buzzer’ and they would come and assist me. But sometimes (very rarely) the ‘buzz’ gets missed. So picture the scenario – I am sitting on the shower chair, ready to get into my wheelchair which I can see right in front of me, but I am physically unable to get to it. The wheelchair just sits there poking its metaphorical tongue out at me.
Now when I am faced with a challenging situation I think back to this exact scenario and think – ‘Well it could be worse couldn’t it? I could be sitting naked in a chair with nothing but a towel and be unable to get out of the shower!’
It does not get converted into a ‘why bother’ moment. Instead it inspires me to give it a go and try.
- Be friendly!
I am constantly surprised by the number of people whose first (and only) approach to a situation is to be angry and rude. Now I am sure there is lots of advice that being 'strong' is persuasive. Again I beg to differ (I seem to be doing a lot of that!) but my experience would tell me that being polite and, god forbid, nice to people actually means you are more likely to get the outcome you require. I am now much, much less reliant on assistance from others than I was in hospital but, every now and again I do need help. I can assure you people are much more likely to help if I ask nicely.
I would argue that if you were complacent, then the relative effort required to be nice to people would be seen as a bit too much. Conversely if you are content then being nice to someone is just the default way of going about your business.
- Don’t compromise.
Despite the restrictions I am now faced with, I have not changed my goals. Luckily I never aspired to be a world class middle distance runner as this would probably be out of the realms of possibility now. But my desire to be successful at work, to contribute to a business’s success and part of a great business culture has not changed.
- Promote Others.
It can be easier and seemingly more satisfying pushing ‘your own wheelbarrow’. But I suspect that it can be tiresome for others to constantly hear how good you are. It is immensely more satisfying completing activities that encourage others to come to the conclusion that you are actually quite good. Concentrate your efforts on supporting others, delivering great work and providing appropriate counsel where required and let the conclusions on your awesomeness will come.
So on some level, the definitions of these two words are similar;
Content: satisfied with what one is or has; not wanting more or anything else.
Complacent: pleased, especially with oneself or one's merits, advantages, situation, etc.
But I feel the use of the word ‘pleased’ is the most telling. I think it infers some sort of smugness. This illustrates itself through a level of comfort, or even laziness, that seemingly prevents people from embracing change. Whereas, being content, or even happy means that you not only accept change but thrive on it