Enough with… Never Enough

Setting out on a month of celebrating daily successes.

I am a (lapsed) 80s goth and a lifelong fan of The Cure. They were my favourite bands in the early 90s and I am going to see them live twice later this year (covid permitting).

One of the songs by the band is called Never Enough, and recently a sense of never enough-ness has crept into my mind.

‘However hard I try… it’s never enough..’ is what Robert Smith sings and whilst the song may be about excess of one kind or another, for me it’s the sense of frustration that resonates.

Whatever I do, there is always more… however hard I work, there’s always the next set of challenges… and no matter how much I achieve the goalposts keep moving out of sight. Working in the EdTech sector post pandemic, even in a privileged role like the one I have, does not often feel like a good place to be (and I salute the bloggers who try to articulate this sense of… WTF in all its nuances).

I don’t want to detract from saying what needs to be said, and of the impact the past few years have had. Personally and professionally so many are dealing with so much.

For me, in my own microcosm of getting out of bed each morning and running a small charity, of steering an unsteady ship over a choppy sea (that’s a metaphor for you, Martin), I am getting more and more frustrated with my own sense of fear or failure.

So, to cheer myself up (and to exploit some of my new found coaching skills in an experiment of self-coaching) I am embarking on a month of celebrating daily success: every day I am going to note a success and I am going to share it publicly to help hold myself accountable.

It doesn’t matter to me how big or small a thing it is, from getting out of bed to finding five minute of peace to have a cup of tea, finishing a report or responding to a difficult email. It all counts.

The kind of successes I want to celebrate and remind myself about are things that matter in my life day in, day out. I am not looking to mark achievement of the organisation I run or evaluate my performance. I have other places and processes for that. This is really about finding some balance in my own perspective.

To start with, I am going to share a success from each of the past few days, back to the start of the month, and after that I’ll post each day and share what happens.

If the idea appeals to you, you are warmly welcome to share your own successes, however large or small, on Twitter and Instagram.

July to date

• 1st July: I went to the beach
• 2nd July: I completed stage 2 of coach training
• 3rd July: I ate well
• 4th July: I cleared my inbox after a week off
• 5th July: I blogged
• 6th July: I sorted out a lot of family admin
• 7th July: I published this post 🙂