flamingo trap.

As rewarding as it is to celebrate victories, no matter how big or small the win, it is easy and something of a comfort to dwell on them too long because you end up standing still. Success is often thought of as a finality, which has given rise to the common goal analogies that if you study hard at school and do well in your exams, you’ll get a great job and you’ll be successful. But this year, I learnt comprehensively that success is not really a physical end point that you can strive towards and admire at with gleaming eyes once you’ve reached it, but rather a continuous journey of churning out results consistently.

Of course there are moments to be proud of and milestones to be revered, and they should be applauded and taken notice of. But to me, whilst reaching the summit is clearly an achievement worth commending, to remain there and continue to occupy the summit over a prolonged period of time is surely the most prestigious accolade that could be attained.

To remember that it’s a journey is imperative, because many people who encounter failure after success are quick to deem the entire purpose as a failure. But this, of course, isn’t true because failure is an inevitability in trying to do something difficult and worthwhile.

Avoiding standing still in moments of success is to recognise that right around the corner of a peak, could be that trough that brings down the wave that you’ve been riding on. Much like the Andean flamingos who bask in the waters in the day, and find their legs frozen into the same waters come the following morning, my goal is to celebrate briefly whatever successful strides that I make, but to remain focused in remembering that it’s all about where the next win is coming from.