Today is one of those days when I questioned my work and one of the things I am most proud of: helping people.
I got some strong pushback on what I shared in a meeting today. Getting pushback is not something new to me, and it is something I am very open to receiving. But today, I was extremely upset after the session.
And I asked myself many many questions about why I was feeling that way. It turned out that it wasn’t really because of the questions I got during the meeting. It was more about me being disappointed in myself: I could have prepared better.
Sometimes when things go well for a while, I forget that being overprepared is always better than being underprepared. But you know what is worse than being underprepared? Preparing just enough. And that was exactly how I felt.
I had known that this could be a challenging meeting, but over the past few days I had run several meetings and all of them went really well, so I was confident that this one would too.
I also forgot that running a session to share feedback with people who have many many years of experience is never an easy one. So, a lesson for me is not to forget this:
Do more. Prepare more. And save something for different scenarios. Assume and expect the worst, but show up with the best version of myself that I can.
I was contemplating this for hours after the meeting, and I remember thinking:
“OMG, I have a driving lesson after work, and today I have to drive on the Autobahn at night. Maybe this is going to be the most stressful day of the month!”
But NO. The driving lesson was the best part of the day. (Again, see how that “Assume and expect the worst but show up with the best version I can be” works perfectly in this case hehehe.)
A few days ago, I gave my driving teacher some candies and chocolate. Just so you know, I still have lessons to finish and I haven’t passed the exam yet :)))) I just thought it was the right time to give her something because, as much as I get stressed when I am learning how to drive, my teacher must be stressed at the same level—or even more.
So I didn’t want to wait until I passed the exam to give her something nice. Today, she was telling me how her kids liked the chocolate and how they had asked why and from whom she got it. I was extremely happy when I heard her say that “These were from Dai because she thought I was a good teacher.” And yes I did think so! And apparently her kids then asked if Dai was the same as in “DAI DAI”—a song from Shakira :))))
Just imagining them being happy, enjoying the chocolate, and having this little conversation made me feel so alive. That’s the power of giving, I guess. Because sometimes the person who ultimately feels the happiest is the giver.
Then I learned about the lighting system of the car. Later, while I was driving, we saw a dog wearing an illuminated collar. And I just commented:
“OH! Der Hund mit dem Licht!”
My teacher burst out laughing. And then I started laughing too. Maybe it was because of how funny my Deutsch sounded. Or maybe the dog simply looked very funny walking around with this bright green light shining around its neck.
But we had a really good laugh.
After we finished the lesson, it was almost 10 PM. She said she could drop me off at home and that I could drive us there. It was so sweet!
In the afternoon, I was still wondering:
“How many more years until I reach my financial freedom threshold?”
I tend to ask myself this question on days when work feels a bit stressful :))) And in the evening, I was glad that the question had somehow changed to:
“How would life look like to be able to drive someone around?”
Funny how fast things change!
And yes, sometimes at the end of the day, all you need to feel better is a change of environment like me from my working desk to a car and a few unexpected moments with someone else.