Dubai, in the middle of the week. In front of me stands the tallest building in the world: the Burj Khalifa. Below me, the Dubai Fountains are dancing, sending water up to 152 metres into the air. In my hand, a Swabian cocktail. What is a Swabian cocktail? One the client paid for, of course. 🙂
Our event had been a huge success. The guests were happy, and I was standing in a place some people might visit only once in their lives. A wonderful privilege, really. You would think so. But do you know what was actually going through my mind back then, when I was an event manager more than ten years ago? The next project and everything that needed doing. The tasks and challenges of the coming weeks, and a thousand things in between. Not, “Wow, what an incredible moment.” Not even the slightest thought of, “We have really earned this.” Physically, I was in Dubai. In my head, I was already back at work.
And do you know what moves me most about that today? That nothing moved me back then. Nothing at all. I stood there surrounded by all that splendour and felt neither any particular joy nor gratitude. Everything was just a logical to-do list to work through. And my mind was already on the next big thing I needed to achieve. There was no now. Only, “What is happening tomorrow?”
I was very good at getting things done. Finish one event, prepare the next, solve countless problems and meet, or preferably exceed, everyone’s expectations along the way. Finished? Good. Tick it off and move on. Please understand: I loved my job. It took me to some of the most beautiful places in the world. I got to work on incredible shows, sometimes writing them myself or directing them. I accompanied superstars to their first wine tasting and experienced things I would never even have dared to dream of before. The opportunities around me seemed endless. And I was right in the middle of it all. Yet sometimes, I was not really there.
Does any of that sound familiar?
When the next goal matters more than today’s success
You work towards something for weeks. Perhaps a business deal, a holiday, a promotion, a new car, a particular number on the scales, or simply the moment when everything is finally done. And then it happens. You have made it. For a brief moment, you might even feel pleased. But the moment you reach your goal, that voice in your head pipes up again.
“Great. So what’s next? Come on, keep going. You can do more.” The chatterbox in your head never clocks off, after all. “Just let me enjoy this moment first,” you might answer silently. “Enjoy it? You can do that later. Right now, you need to push ahead. You don’t want to get stuck on this rung of the career ladder, do you? There is more to be had. And once you reach the next level, then…”
Perhaps you recognise thoughts like these. Sometimes they arrive very quickly after an achievement, sometimes a little later: “Once I have done THAT, I will be happy.”
Once I finally earn more. Once the children are older. Once the house is paid off. Once I finally have more time again. Once I am on holiday. Once this one problem is finally solved… then… life can really begin.
A bit like retirement. “When we have more time, we will take that cruise.” Then you do have more time, but perhaps you are not quite as mobile as you were at 30. Well, putting things off comes at a price too.
Why constant pressure to perform affects companies too
What we experience as individuals also shows up in everyday working life. A quarterly target is met, a major contract is won, a project is successfully completed. And what often happens next? The next target. The next project. The next challenge.
There is nothing wrong with ambitious goals. Quite the opposite. Companies need people who want to make things happen. People who take responsibility, develop ideas and achieve things together. But what happens when success is seen only as another completed task? When a team gives everything for months to reach an important milestone, and the only response is, “Brilliant. Now let’s move on to the next project”?
Eventually, those involved may begin to feel that their performance is expected but barely noticed. And for me, this is where an important leadership responsibility begins: setting new goals while also making visible what people have already achieved together.
That does not have to mean a big celebration. Sometimes a sincere thank-you is enough. A brief look back together. Or the question, “What can we actually be proud of as a team?” Because if you only ever show your employees what is still missing, it is easy to overlook what they have already accomplished.
Happiness is not waiting around the next corner
But here is the thing. What if that one next corner does not lead to great happiness at all, but simply to another corner? And beyond that… another. And beyond that… yet another.
The Road That Never Ends.
For a long time, I believed I just needed one more major success before that feeling of lasting fulfilment would finally arrive. That feeling of, “Now I have made it.” Or perhaps even, “Now I am good enough.”
But somehow, the finish line kept moving. As soon as I reached one goal, the next was already on my list. And the next. And the next.
Do you know what is really strange about that? From the outside, my life looked pretty amazing. And in many ways, it was. I had just sometimes forgotten to notice it myself.
Today, I see things differently.
I still love having big goals. I love challenges, special experiences and that excitement when something that seemed impossible suddenly becomes possible. Other people are welcome to handle the small stuff. Thinking big? That I can do.
But I no longer make my happiness depend on whether I have reached the next corner. I want to enjoy the journey there too. The people travelling with me, the conversations along the way and the laughter we share. The small successes that used to barely make it onto my to-do list. And yes, sometimes I simply want to stop and smell the roses growing beside the path.
Because I have understood one thing: before my life is over, I will never manage to turn every corner where the world promises me great happiness. So why the hurry?
Good leadership also means noticing success
Perhaps this is a thought we should bring into our working lives more often. Because leaders shape how success is experienced within a company through their behaviour as well as their decisions.
When leaders are constantly under pressure, immediately tick off achievements and are already thinking about the next target, they may unintentionally send a message to the entire team: “This is how success works here. Keep going. Move faster. Never stop.”
But does it really have to be that way?
What if leaders gave their teams more opportunities to recognise what they have already achieved together? What if conversations covered the things that went really well, alongside mistakes and new targets?
Perhaps that would change the way people work together and how employees see their own performance. Because motivation does not come exclusively from the next big goal. It can also grow when people recognise the difference their work has already made. For me, that is entirely compatible with high standards. It is a way of bringing performance and appreciation together.
LOOK AGAIN — Perhaps there is already more than you think
Perhaps you feel something similar right now. You work incredibly hard. You are reliable and successful at getting everything done that life asks of you. But when did you last pause and really notice what you already have?
Not what is still missing. Not what you still need to achieve. Not what is on tomorrow’s list.
What is already here, NOW.
Perhaps it is the person sitting next to you. Or a small success you have already moved past. Perhaps it is a perfectly ordinary Tuesday when everything simply goes well. And for some people, it might even be a Swabian cocktail in front of the tallest building in the world. 🙂
I cannot turn back time and stand in Dubai all over again. But I can look at my life differently today. LOOK AGAIN. Sometimes we do not need new goals, bigger achievements or even more spectacular experiences. We simply need a fresh look at what is already there.
And now I have one small question for you:
Which moment in your life did you perhaps tick off far too quickly, even though it deserved to be enjoyed for a little longer?
Perhaps you could bring that moment back to mind today. Because here it comes after all, that familiar calendar quotation. Ready…? 🙂
The journey is the destination.
And perhaps that applies to the way we work together and lead companies just as much as it does to our private lives.
365 positive messages for your everyday life
“Norman, how do I remember to look at things differently in everyday life?” Good question. Bad news usually finds us all by itself. Sometimes we need to deliberately invite a friendly thought into our lives.
That is exactly why LOOK AGAIN is here. For a year, you will receive a positive message from me every day. Sometimes a question, sometimes a thought, and sometimes something to make you smile. As though we were having a brief conversation. A minute for you. No homework. Your chatterbox already has enough on its list. 🙂
Your short message arrives from Monday to Saturday at 07:00 German time. On Sundays, you will receive my longer Inspiration Letter. If you already subscribe, your existing subscription stays as it is.
