Every once in a great while — somewhere between the nonsensical update that improves nothing and the inevitable post that’s marred by those five damning words “You know who you are,” Facebook provides a chance to have an epiphanic moment. This may or may not be one of them — depending on individual levels of intelligence, social superficiality and ability to be open. Anyway, in the news feed the other day I noticed that a very dear friend posted a very plain (but apparently very eye-catching) update asking “Does life have a reset button?” Due to Facebook’s uncanny way of getting people to make mountains out of molehills, I stopped for a second — but then proceeded to investigate. Turns out it wasn’t a molehill. It was an inroad.
As a responsible social media slut I won’t name names or provide much detail on the “Why?” behind the post. While the situation was and still is serious — it was also a strategic moment to reach out and cheer someone up. It was a good chance to do what friends do — support outwardly and ridicule quietly. TOTALLY kidding with the ridicule (it was my only moment to attempt humor in this post). Anyway, it got me thinking about life’s “Reset” button and whether it exists. It does. We just don’t press it enough. Some never press it at all in their journey.
In the world of business we have data upon analytics to tell us whether to proceed with a certain model, revamp it or start from scratch. Yet in life, so many of us (including me at times) don’t stop to look over data, evaluate and proceed with a “best practices” approach. Therefore, the reset button never gets pushed.
Sure, it’s difficult to turn around and begin again. You have pride, ego and a whole bunch of other forces playing into that equation. But, find me anyone who is great or an inspiration in this world who hasn’t “Reset” and started over. There’s a quote that reads “You don’t fail until you give up.” It’s genius and so true. So what if it takes a couple of times to learn a lesson or change behaviors or start a business or do whatever. Nowhere in the rule book does it say success must be achieved on the first pass. Plus, if that happened, think of all the other bits and pieces of formidable information with which we’d never cross paths.
It’s time to replace the bulb in the reset button — get it glowing again to remind us that it’s there for using. We can’t think of the reset button as a setback. In fact, the sooner we press it sometimes — the sooner we meet our goals and successes. I’m going to start being a little more business minded in my personal life and learn to be more proactive with that often overlooked or dismissed data and analytics. I look forward to pressing the reset button — many times. After all — isn’t success for anything the result of doing things repeatedly until getting it right.
One final note. The friend I referred to at the beginning of this post kept his chin up and is doing better. I’m very certain there will come a time in the future where I’ll be able to tell you that he is doing amazingly great. For now — Ready, RESET – go!
RESPONSE UPDATE: MAY 24TH
I LOVE this! So true RT @joanna_haugen: Does your life need a reset button? j.mp/19YKTZQ via @mikedoria”
— Cara O’Donnell (@caraodonnell) May 21, 2013
ADDED INSPIRATION
