Celebrate Epiphanies Rather Than Understanding

Monday, September 24, 2007 - By: Linda Talley

Crazy but true! Think about a time when you tried to understand something and you just never did! Perhaps it was the raise or the promotion you never got or the sale that never occurred or the lease that never got signed. How long did you spend trying to figure it out—trying to understand what happened, what went wrong, why they did it? It was probably a pretty frustrating process. And it always will be because the trick is not to go after understanding—go after the “aha” and understanding will follow.

So, let’s say, you didn’t get the promotion. You could spend the next 6 months trying to figure out why or you could jump back into your job and celebrate the epiphanies that come your way. This could be an article you read that gives you better language to approach your boss about the next promotion. This could be moving closer to your boss and building a better relationship with him/her. This could be becoming the expert in your department. Whatever it is, when you experience the epiphanies, celebrate them! Say, “Yes, I get it. I know what to do next time!” Or, “I see what I was missing last time.”

When you celebrate this way, you start collecting epiphanies (knowledge) and when you have enough epiphanies, you create wisdom (understanding). Wisdom (understanding) is the connecting the facts of the mind (knowledge) with the emotions of the heart. It doesn’t happen overnight but it will happen when you focus on celebrating epiphanies!

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