The WHY Makes a Difference

“So what if you have worked in the job for three months and haven’t achieved a single goal from your job description? What would you do?” This was a hypothetical question placed to me by the psychologist who interviewed us for the VSA assignment back in February 2019.

Critical for the interviewer was obviously the testing of our resilience and how we would cope in an environment where things don’t always go to plan.

In our three months’ experience here, things not going according to plan has become part of our ‘New Normal’.  We are calling it ‘the Tongan Way’ or ‘adaptability’ or, in Sabine’s term: “Random!”

For me, the starting point for my business mentoring work has been very different to what I had expected or what the initial position description stated. For various reasons, and I won’t go into the details here, I had to begin my job much further back! This included having to create the framework for my own job before I could start my real work. It has taken me exactly three months to do this.

The work which I have come here to do, is now on schedule to start this coming week. The big hurdles are cleared, appointments made, and I’m really excited to start the one-on-one business mentoring work in earnest. Or, maybe, it will start the following week. But it will definitely start!

The funny thing is that the question by the psychologist way back early in the year wasn’t just hypothetical – it turned out to be the Real McCoy!

Working through such unexpected changes made me think: Usually, to cope with challenges, we rely on our familiar support network and regular routines. Here, away from home, away from trusted friends, away from the familiar environment and routines, one can easily start feeling isolated or frustrated. So, a level of staying power is certainly needed. For me, to know ‘The Why’ – the reason why I’m doing this – is helping me overcome some of the challenges of ‘The How’. And to my advantage, and thank God for it, I also have Sabine by my side – my wife and trusted friend. Together, we can discuss matters and then find a balanced way forward.

By the way, the insightful psychologist had suggested during the interview that, should I ever experience such a (then no longer hypothetical) challenge, Sabine should take me out snorkelling for a day….  I’m still waiting for that day.