Imagine being stuck in a rut thinking that the major project you were a part of in 2018 was the apex of your career? It might have been that project that helped propel you to a promotion. It may have caught the eye of your bosses. You can remember that feeling when you were on top of the world.
The funny thing is that when you're on the top of the world, when you've reached the summit, you have nowhere to go but down. This is true in the physical sense, however it does not need to be true in the figurative sense of how you view your life.
As a school principal, I've always been a big fan of Stephen Covey, educator and author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. My old school promoted the 7 Habits for roughly a generation of children that went through our building. We had a school promise centered around the 7 Habits. One of the most surreal moments of my career was two years ago when graduating seniors came back to our building and a group of them recited our 7 Habits promise. They still had it memorized. It resonated with me so much that day.
Stephen Covey's final book, Living Life in Crescendo was written by his daughter, but she wrote it from his perspective. Mr. Covey was a big believer in that your best work is always ahead of you. Imagine your life being a constant mountain climb, however there is no summit, you can always go higher. This is how we should view our work. It's that "the best is yet to come" mentality.
A recent retiree of my old school is living proof of this philosophy. That dreaded R-word really can be difficult for new retirees. The purpose becomes lost. The quote by Morgan Freeman in The Shawshank Redemption always stuck with me, "Get busy living or get busy dying." If you lose that purpose, for lack of a better sense, you're basically getting busy dying.
However, this retiree didn't get busy dying. She made sure to find her purpose immediately and get busy living. The last day of her 30 year teaching career wasn't her crescendo. She is now mentoring student teachers, the future educators who will take the reins and help mold our future generations. She also is staying active with a local organization that provides therapy dogs for various social/emotional needs. I am on cloud nine knowing that each Thursday she will come visit my new school and spend an hour with a few of our children who will benefit with having some 1 on 1 time with her and her wonderful therapy dog.
Talk about living your life in crescendo. The classroom time stopped for her, but she now is guiding our future teachers of America and still getting to visit schools to bring smiles to our students. My friend is living proof that her best work was still ahead of her.
Your best work is always ahead of you! Keep this in mind, especially if you are coming off that high where you just hit it out of the park at work.
Life your life in crescendo. Your mountain has no summit.