All Things Come to an End

All good things come to an end. We’ve heard the phrase. We’ve had conversations in our homes and workplaces about when the right time was to end something. Maybe it’s a development program that’s less applicable than it once was. Maybe it’s a home rule that didn’t apply as your children matured. Maybe it was a volunteer event that saw diminishing involvement.

How do you know when it’s time to end something good? That’s the difficult struggle for most of us. This year we’ve had many of those things ended for us because of COVID-19, which puts us in the position of evaluating if and how we’ll do something different moving forward.

For me, this past year was already a year of transition when COVID hit. I had been refocusing my work to speak and travel less. I had started building a CEO peer group in the region. When COVID hit, I had choices to make about how I would use this time to innovate and think differently about what my path would look like moving forward.

This innovation and new path have also included several goodbyes along the way. This past week I talked with someone I adore and have worked with for many years. I had to share with her that my career path has shifted and that I won’t be available to work with her company. It was difficult to say no to someone I adore. It was hard to feel like I was letting someone down.

That’s why seeing something come to an end is sad. Let me reframe that sadness though. Wouldn’t it be worse if something came to an end and no one was sad because that thing had long outlived its purpose and people no longer supported or believed in it? That would be far worse to have your goodbye be good riddance!

While my goodbye to the work I had done with this colleague was sad, it was also filled with best wishes for the next phase for both of us. We aren’t done with one another – our relationship is changing into something new.

There’s an ulterior motive to my writing this to you today. One of the things I’ve had to evaluate in my new career path is this blog. I love to write, and I love the creative outlet it’s given me over the past five years. And, I realize the next part of my journey doesn’t include blogging publically.

So like my parting conversation with my colleague and friend, it’s with sadness, and gratefulness, I’m letting you know this will be my last blog – for now. I’ve been so grateful over the years for the encouraging messages and comments from all of you! My heart has been filled by people who have emailed me or stopped me in a store to say how helpful that week’s blog was to them. Your loyalty and support have meant the world to me.

Thank you for being part of this journey. Please stay in touch – and I mean that! You can reach me at Sarah@AccentLC.com.

Until the next good thing and a new crossing of our paths!

Sarah

 

Vistage chair, keynote speaker, trainer, and consultant, Sarah Gibson, helps organizations leverage the power of communication, teamwork, and diversity to improve engagement and transform teams.

If you are a CEO, or know a CEO who would benefit from a peer advisory group, please contact Sarah at Sarah.Gibson@VistageChair.com. To inquire about her speaking programs, please visit www.sarahjgibson.com.