In 2022, I Realized the Importance of Always Seeking Challenges
（日本語版あり）
Below is the letter that I enclosed in this year’s Christmas cards.
With the holiday season fast approaching, I hope you are in good spirits.
This spring, I was promoted at work. I must confess, it took a bit longer than I expected.
No doubt my general carefree attitude contributed to the delay. For the longest time, the most I wanted to get out of my job was to work on worthy initiatives with great people. Beyond that I didn’t have much ambition, and I always thought that was a good thing.
But as I contemplated what I needed to do for a promotion, I realized that a certain amount of ambition goes hand-in-hand with achieving self-improvement.
I’ve been in my current role for a number of years, which has helped make things go more smoothly at work. I hadn’t necessarily sought “comfort” in my work, but somewhere along the line, I may have unintentionally gone on cruise control, satisfied with the challenges inherent in the day-to-day.
If receiving a promotion is a reflection of personal growth, going with the flow isn’t enough. Only by taking on challenges outside the comfort zone, making mistakes, and feeling an occasional (emotional) pain can a person continue to grow. Mistakes are painful; without the desire to strive for more, the natural tendency is to default to avoiding challenges for the sake of avoiding pain, which then inhibits growth.
As I reflect on this realization, I once again contemplate the complexity of life. It turns out there’s more to a job than great colleagues and worthy endeavors (although those are certainly important). Nor is managing new responsibilities that come with the promotion enough. There’s a need to always seek out new challenges.
I think there’s a lot in common between work and shogi (Japanese chess). Just as I play the gamebecause it’s fun, I continue with my work because it’s rewarding. But the sense of satisfaction is insufficeint. The desire to get to the next level in shogiand achieve growth at work drive the desire for new challenges, and just as there’s no limit to how strong I can become in shogi, there’s no end to the journey of personal growth.
I suspect there’s another similarity between shogiand work, and that’s that not all challenges will lead to success. I couldn’t reach the next level in shogi this yearand I shouldn’t expect everything to go swimmingly at work, but having learned the importance of talking on new challenges in 2022, I hope to make 2023 the year in which I embrace the pain that may come from it.
I wish you a Merry Christmas, and may your 2023 be full of learning opportunities.
