Last week you probably managed a shrinking budget, a shifting attendee count, three last-minute changes, and at least one AI conversation you didn’t ask for. And all before lunch. We are leading in an era defined by disruption.
In 1985, two economists coined the term VUCA – Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity – to describe our post-Cold War world, and it still rings true to this day.
So where do we go from here?
There’s some inspiration we can take from something many of us are on multiple times a year: the airplane. Think about your home airport. Some days you fly out one direction, and another day you take off a different direction.
That’s not because air traffic control is thinking, “Hmm… I wonder what view we should give passengers today!” There’s actually a ton of science behind it.
An airplane uses less fuel when it takes off against that wind. It’s because planes are designed so the wind doesn’t bring the aircraft down, it lifts it higher. The power of the engine and the design of the wings use the resistance of the wind to create lift.
Here’s where I’m going with this: how can we as people use the challenges in our personal lives and professional roles so that they lift us higher instead of bring us down?
I believe the X-factor comes down to ‘Making the Moment’.
The power of moments
Let’s pretend you run into your friends, Micah & Colleen, and ask how their recent trip to Paris was. You know what they’re going to say: “It was great. It was a trip of a lifetime!”
Hold up. Let’s go hour by hour to see how great it really was.
They pay an unexpected charge of $100 per person for checked bags, get no sleep on the redeye flight, don’t understand French and get very confused. They take the wrong metro train, order a dish they don’t like and wait in a very long queue to see the Mona Lisa.
All this stress in just the first 12 hours. So why did Micah & Colleen say this was an amazing trip? It’s because they were thinking of the moments and not the minutes.
When you asked about their trip, they’re thinking of maybe three things: The park where the gardens were stunning and time stood still; the restaurant where they sat outside and people-watched for hours, and the Eiffel Tower sparkling at night like a dream.
Think about your own trips. The minute-by-minute score of travelling really isn’t all that great. But you do remember the moments.
But, when we live our lives, we do the exact opposite. We judge our days by the minutes instead of the moments.
If we took inventory of all the problems in our days, we would find that many of which – maybe nearly all – are problems that we can’t fix. They’re outside our control.
It’s like the part of the serenity prayer that says: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
What we can control in our days are the moments that we choose to build.
Let’s go over three ingredients that it takes to build a moment.
TIME
Being intentional with your time is an essential component. If you want to begin each day with a 15-minute walk of fresh air or a five-minute meditation or prayer, then you’ll need to carve some time out of your day. Whether it’s the same time daily or finding the pockets of time throughout the day, you have to seize your time before the ‘something else’ takes its place.
Remember that consistency beats intensity. You’re better off walking 10 minutes daily than walking 70 minutes just one day a week.
Maybe each day at one of your events, you take five minutes to look around and take in the smiles, laughter and new connections taking place, knowing that you helped create this environment.
When building a new moment into your day, start small. Focus on consistency and intensity will follow.
CONNECTION
The longest-running study on human health and happiness has been underway at Harvard since 1938, and there’s one factor that has risen above everything: ‘relationships’.
Good relationships keep us happier and healthier, and that couldn’t be truer for making a moment.
Creating moments of connection is vital. Maybe it’s joining a weekly group tennis clinic, or volunteering at a local service organisation or faith-based group.
It’s important to note that there’s a difference between being alone and being lonely. We all need moments alone, especially if you’re more of an introvert.
The types of connection could vary from person to person and situation to situation. Connection can mean connecting with yourself, your purpose, or a higher being.
And in the meetings and events industry, we are in the business of creating the environment for connections to take place and flourish.
MEANING
The moment needs to mean and stand for something. Maybe when visiting your hometown, you are walking the road that you used to walk often as a kid and reflect on how much growth you’ve experienced in life since.
Or, maybe you go to a sporting event and reflect on how your grandfather was the first person that took you to a game. Maybe you handwrite a letter to someone because they have brought so much value to your life.
Or, before a high-stakes event, maybe you take five minutes to reflect on how you got into this great industry. Maybe it was a specific conference or person that changed and impacted you, and you can tap back into that feeling.
There needs to be purpose or meaning behind a moment to truly make it great.
THE BOTTOM LINE
If you take time and build in connection but have no meaning, then it’s hollow. If you build in connection and meaning but never make time, then it’s wishful. And if you have meaning and time, but don’t invite connection, then it’s lonely. You need all three: time, connection and meaning. And when you have all three, it’s game-on.
Just like how an airplane uses headwinds, we can use the challenges in our industry – the burnout, pressures and uncertainty – to rise higher and thrive.
When moments matter more than minutes, burnout becomes breakthrough, exhaustion becomes energy, and survival becomes something better: a life and career worth cherishing.
Nolan Nichols is a Fortune 500 keynote speaker helping leaders and teams create Moments that Matter to perform an& lead at your best, elevate service, and retain top talent. Learn more at amilliondreams.info
