Whenever there is a significant event in my life, I take a moment and backtrack every step that lead to that moment. I look back at choices, people and situations that played a significant hand in me arriving at that moment.

I start off by taking a step back and wondering about how I even got the idea about doing what I just did. Then I look for the seed, the person that planted the idea in my head. Most often its an innocent suggestion or a passing remark that caught my eye. But once in a while its something special… Sometimes its just someone putting their absolute trust in you and encouraging you to take a chance.

Then I take a step further back and look at what lead to that moment, was it something at the end of another similar moment or maybe it was a conversation that we shared. I keeping taking steps back in time, to when I met the people who helped me recently, to how we first met and how we have changed since then.

Most often I end up at a choice that i made 10 years ago. That choice was very unlike me and by making that choice it triggered a series of events that made this moment possible…

This process helps me out in two ways. One, it makes me remember that I could not have achieved what I just did on my own and that reminds me to show my gratitude to the people involved. Two, it brings into clear perspective what is truly required to be done to complete the task; A pensive of lessons…

One of the greatest lessons I have learnt from this process is that selflessness is truly a great attribute. Its really rare and deserves to be acknowledged. Sometimes in all the noise and celebration its easy to forget the silent pillars that were there from the start, the supports that made your building stand. These are the real heroes of your latest success story…