On the Boost

People do not lack strength, they lack will.

Victor Hugo

Some days, it’s hard to stay motivated on my team. We are continually working against time with limited resources in an environment where there’s talk of support, but we’re still bleeding. It’s tough to try to squeeze water from a stone when you’re parched and weary, but everyday my colleagues do this. Because we believe in our heart of hearts that what we are doing can make a difference. As my colleague said at dinner tonight, we all aspire to altruism. But some days, it’s really hard when you’re mentally and physically stretched.

This week I’m across the pond for a meeting and though I miss paradise, being out of the everyday grind serves as a nice reset. Make no mistake we are here on serious business, but interaction with people outside our group offers another perspective. Many times when you’re so deep in the weeds, where attention to detail is delicately balanced among the many hats we wear, it can be easy to forget just how much progress has been made since the start. Tonight, as we got to know a few new colleagues over dinner, my boss and I relayed the history of how this all came about. As the story and the characters that make up this plot line were told, I was reminded of just how exciting this all is. How talented and dedicated my colleagues are. How a series of events lined up just so to orchestrate the piece we are all playing today. How this small team shares a synergy and camaraderie that results in orders of magnitude more output than seems possible. And as we sat over coffee and dessert of Yorkshire pudding expounding on the future, the fatigue of the past few years fell away. Everyone needs a shot of adrenaline in the arm sometimes to keep going, and sometimes all it takes is reflection and appreciation from outside looking in.