Years ago I was part of a team managing an emergency response with a budget of over 350 million.  I still remember one situation in which someone was talking to me about an opportunity worth around a million dollars; my reaction was “What’s the big deal, it’s only a million dollars”.  I also remember later that day being struck by my own words and how odd, ridiculous, and arrogant they were.  It was a strange time and oh how things have changed.

Two years ago, I was given a system to “see what you can do with it”…it was failing, haemorrhaging money, and there was little accountability.  It’s been a hard two years, full of difficult conversations, sleepless nights, tears, and many very hard decisions, but the situation is radically different than two years – thanks to some great team members, an amazingly supportive boss, luck, and the difficult work.

This week, I was able to secure some new revenue, which will push our revenue for this financial year slightly over a million dollars.  The smile on my face is huge and so is the joy.  I know for some a million is little (people like me years ago), but for us it is the result of two years of hard work.  It means we’ve tripled our revenue in two years, we are profitable, and a super stretch goal we set 12 months ago has been met.  I could not be prouder of the team.  This hard fought, hard won goal brings me so much more joy than the 350 million years ago.

Perhaps joy is inversely proportional to the effort we put into the experience.