November 2023 – I tend to have these impossibly high standards for myself and our team, so when things go wrong, I’m crushed.
These feelings of despair, complete disappointment, anxiety, and misery are emotions that I work hard to shake off every single time I’m faced with a situation where ‘things did not go according to plan’.
Over the last year, there have been some memorable pivots from Plan A to Plan B, C, or D.
This includes the epic ziplining fail where 10 adventurous event attendees suited up and climbed 100+ steps up a tower to zipline across the Ottawa River on the only interprovincial zipline experience in Canada, only to be told there was a live construction zone below making it unsafe to do so.
My stomach literally sank when that text message came in alerting me to the change in plans. It took me days to let it go … I was ruminating on it in a very unhealthy way.
It was only when I received emails from the wanna be zipliners saying it was ‘no biggie’, followed by some sage advice from a colleague who said: ‘No one actually signed up to come to this event because of the ziplining. It’s not why they’re here’, that I was able to fully let it go.
That’s when I decided to make light of it and our team created this little video clip:
In another instance, we had a request from an event attendee for a private lactation room– something we had not foreseen or planned for.
As a young mom who struggled with how to effectively feed my baby and manage the leaking boobs situation during my early return to work and sports some 25+ years ago, I went on a personal mission to find a quiet spot in a convention centre filled with thousands of people for this new mom.
We, of course, figured it out and mama was very appreciative 😊.
These hiccups in the original plan always teach me things (and give me great stories to tell and reflect on). In most cases they eventually become a source of entertainment. The irony of the 180-degree turn on how I process these emotions is not lost on me.
The truth is that our team has had loads of FUN with our clients this year. Those moments far outweigh the messy, imperfect ones.
If you have a story of an epic fail that you ultimately ended up laughing and smiling about, shoot me a message.
Until then, remember … what goes up must come down (just not always down in the way you thought it would).
Happy November!