Recently, I watched Edie, an inspiring movie in which an 83-year-old widow, played by Sheila Hancock, decides to fulfill a longtime dream of climbing Suilven, an iconic peak in the Scottish Highlands. Edie sticks to her plan even when surrounded by many naysayers keeping in mind a constant memory of her father, who adored a wild child that she once was, and makes it to the summit reveling the triumph of determination and desire of something more. Foremost, Edie has not felt so thrilled alive for a long time while experiencing this journey of adventure, action and courage.
Impossible is just an opinion, Edie would say. How many times have we heard that something was impossible to achieve, only to be flabbergasted that it otherwise was? How many times have we felt so full of life when climbing our designated peak, either a metaphorical or a more physically challenging one? How many times have we decided to move off the beaten track and take the route traveled only by a few or none?
In my early years, I observed my father working long hours on his mechanics and electric engineering innovations and projects. I admired his passion and tenacity thinking that the benchmark for me to find this sort of passion as his was too high. When I was in high school deciding which path of college education to take, my father encouraged me to go into engineering. However, I had internal barriers erected by society and my close ecosystem without any example of a female engineer and that choice seemed to me not cool or suited for a woman. I also feared that I did not have my father’s passion and talent to pursue an engineering degree. Instead, I chose to find my own path, not just follow the path that my father made for himself. Although it was more difficult than today for young Poles to study abroad, I found a way to explore my own passion for languages and history while discovering the beauty of Heidelberg and Germany. There, surrounded by international community, I realized how infinitely different and interconnected the world was compared to my prior experience in Poland.
In retrospect, I know that to achieve success it sometimes requires taking a road less traveled with courage and making an opportunity fit for yourself and others.
Leaders are everywhere. Leaders can be found anywhere
It is no wonder that Gavin Newsom’s words struck me with their accuracy: Leaders are everywhere. Leaders can be found anywhere. We are all leaders of our actions, decisions and destiny. We do not need a big position, title or privilege to provide value and demonstrate passion for the vision of our life, our company, or our community.
We all can offer something. We all can make a difference.
Our world needs more women in power who by setting an example would make a profound impact on any woman who aspires to the top of any field and leans in vigorously toward any goal fitting her life, values and dreams.
I think female leaders are essential to adding more voices and expanding opportunities to a new generation of aspiring women, so that in the future a young girl is not discouraged by societal barriers to follow a field that is not cool because it is overwhelmingly dominated by men. Also, this young girl is not afraid to advocate for herself – a trait that girls are often discouraged from displaying. I believe that all women need to find their place to flourish in this world – their place of wisdom, courage and strength.
Our life beckons, full of unknowns – good or bad, but between those two extremes will unfold an indefinite number of possibilities. Sometimes life requires to take a step into the unknown where there is no playbook, fearless of a failure, taking risk.
What is risk? Everything has risk. All of life has risk, except the norms that people do not have control over. And what is failure? According to Anna Huffington, Failure is not the opposite of success. It is a stepping-stone to success. For me, failure is an evolution of something that may not have worked the way I wanted it but in that I can always figure out other ways to work. It only requires self-reflection and perseverance to learn something whenever I fail because every change and every possibility might crystalize out of failure.
I noticed that not knowing what I did not then know placed me in front of many hard circumstances. If I had known how challenging it would be to study and work in different countries, I would have probably never done it in the first place. But I have taken the risk, have seized my chances, have made my share of mistakes and, most importantly, I have grown considerably since then. Along the way, I noticed that most of the barriers to happiness and success I have faced lie within me. I am a firm believer that I can change my life if I put my mind into it by taking simple but conscious steps of action. We easily forget what others teach us but remember what we discover on our own. I realized back then, in college, my calling for business and that I would follow my family’s business path.
The fact that others will judge our choices is unavoidable. Show others what is within you. And do not be afraid to take a leap when the situation requires it. There are many obstacles interfering with taking a leap and changing things in life. It requires determination, hard work, substantial focus. However, let things work for you while also recognizing what works for others and how can you effectively contribute to your family, your community, and your nation.
In life and business everything is possible. Impossible is a word uttered by those who are shaped by metrics, well-known norms and, most of all, disbelief.
Impossible leads to an option waiting to be taken.
Waiting to be taken by you.