A few years ago, I worked as a European tour manager, taking bus loads of people on trips around places like Paris, Brussels and Cologne. Of the many, MANY, lessons I learned from those experiences, one of the most valuable was that I cannot make everyone happy.
In every endeavor, adventure or challenge we face, someone somewhere is likely to be annoyed with our decisions.
And while we all know this at a surface level, it only sinks in when you truly let go of being the one that’s “responsible for it all”.
I had clients get themselves lost in city centers, blame me if it rained and be so hungover they could barely see straight! And, I had others get engaged at the Eiffel Tower, relive childhood experiences throwing snowballs in Austria and tear up over the sheer beauty of the Swiss countryside!
You cannot give your all to that kind of work if you are worried about making everyone happy. My focus was only to serve my customers to the best of my ability, and in so doing, I became the most frequently hired tour manager and one of the highest money makers!
Action – Where are you taking responsibility for things that are not in your control? What blame from others are you accepting because of your desire to please?
Do the very best you can and let everything else go.