The Seasons of Life and Business: Navigating Change, Pain, and Perseverance

Feb 25

5 min read

I was watching the Screen Actors Guild Awards the other night (very "highbrow", I know!) and they played a snippet of Swingers, the 1996 cult classic, where Rob (played by Ron Livingston) tells Mike (played by Jon Favreau):

"You’ve got to get on with your life. You’ve got to let go of the past. And Mikey, when you do, I'm telling you: the future is beautiful, alright? Look out the window. It's sunny every day here. It's like manifest destiny. Don't tell me we didn’t make it. We made it! We are here. And everything that is past is prologue to this. All of the shit that didn’t kill us is only - you know, all that shit. You're going to get over it."

And that’s it, isn't it? That’s life. That’s business.

You go through hell in life or business, you come out on the other side, and the sun still rises. The real question is, do you recognise it?

Or are you so fixated on the past, on the failures, the disappointments, the missed opportunities, that you fail to see the season changing right in front of you?

Because here’s the truth: Life and business don’t move in straight lines. They move in cycles, in seasons.

And the most successful people—the ones who make it, the ones who create real impact—aren’t the ones who avoid the bad seasons. They’re the ones who know how to navigate them.

Understanding the Seasons of Business

Think about any great business, any great leader. None of them had a perfect run. IBM in the 1950s was on top of the world, leading the charge in office technology. Then, as computers started taking over, they had to pivot. If they had clung to the past, refusing to evolve, they would’ve been wiped out like so many others.

Or look at Sony. When Akio Morita co-founded the company, they made rice cookers. And they failed. But they didn’t quit. They didn’t get stuck mourning a bad season. They adapted, kept experimenting, and eventually, they built one of the most influential tech brands in the world.

This is the rhythm of business. You’re going to have your spring—fresh ideas, new opportunities, growth. You’ll have your summer—when everything seems to click, and you’re thriving. Then autumn—things slow down, and you start to see cracks. And then winter—when it feels like everything is falling apart. But winter isn’t the end. It’s just the beginning of a new cycle.

If you recognise the season you’re in, you can make the right moves instead of getting stuck.

Pain Is Part of the Process

We don’t talk enough about the pain of failure as Australians or as Denmarkeans for that matter! It’s easy to glorify success, but the road there is brutal.

The Swingers quote continues:

Mike: "How did you get over it? I mean, how long did it take?" Rob: "Sometimes it still hurts. You know how it is, man. It’s like, you wake up every day and it hurts a little bit less, and then you wake up one day and it doesn’t hurt at all. And the funny thing is, this is kind of weird, but it’s like you almost miss that pain." Mike: "You miss the pain?" Rob: "Yeah, for the same reason that you missed her... because you lived with it for so long."

You see, we get attached to our struggles. We wear them like a badge of honour. The failure, the pain—it becomes a part of us. And weirdly enough, when we do finally move past it, we almost miss it because it was familiar. It was a constant.

But that pain is not your identity. It’s just a part of the journey. And if you stay stuck in it, you’re never going to see what’s ahead.

The Power of Stepping Back

The Harvard Business Review recently published an article titled Everyone Deserves a Season to Step Back. It’s a reminder that in business, as in life, sometimes the smartest thing you can do is pause. Not quit, not give up (but what I have been doing) is step back and take stock of where you are.

Because here’s the thing—when you’re in the middle of it, when you’re grinding every day, it’s easy to lose sight of the bigger picture. You become so absorbed in the daily struggle that you forget why you started. That’s when burnout happens. That’s when people lose their way.

when you’re in the middle of it, when you’re grinding every day, it’s easy to lose sight of the bigger picture.

Frederick Buechner, in his memoir The Sacred Journey, wrote about this need for reflection. He said that looking back at our lives with honesty allows us to see the patterns, the lessons, the ways we’ve changed. Without reflection, we just keep repeating the same mistakes over and over again.

Perseverance for the Sake of Others

At the end of the day, the goal isn’t just personal success. It’s about what we build that benefits others.

Businesses that last, leaders who leave a legacy, they aren’t just in it for themselves. They understand that their success ripples out to our families, kids, employees, to customers, to entire industries.

At the end of the day, the goal isn’t just personal success. It’s about what we build that benefits others.

Think about Steve Jobs. The man persevered through failure after failure—not for the sake of personal ego, but because he believed in creating things that mattered. Apple wasn’t just about making money; it was about pushing technology forward in a way that impacted millions of people. What's that for you? Why do you do, what you do?

Or take Ernie Wise and Eric Morecambe, one of Britain’s most beloved comedy duos. Back in 1950, Wise wanted to split up. He thought they had peaked, that there was no future. But they stuck it out, kept refining their craft, and went on to become legends in British comedy. Their perseverance wasn’t just about their careers—it was about the joy they brought to audiences.

Stop Being So Insular—See the Bigger Picture

One of the biggest traps in business, and in life (especially in a regional town, like Denmark) is getting too insular.

People get lost in their own worlds—lose sight of what's beyond the bridge, obsessing over politics, gossip, dwelling on minor failures, getting caught up in town drama that doesn’t matter.

But step back. Look around. Everyone is running their own race, at their own pace. You’re not in competition with them.

The only real race is against yourself.

But step back. Look around. Everyone is running their own race, at their own pace. You’re not in competition with them.

Instead of getting stuck in your own head, start asking different questions:

How can I help someone else?
What value am I bringing to my immediate context?
How am I making things better, not just for myself, but for others?

Because when you shift that perspective—when you focus less on yourself and more on how your actions impact those around you—that’s when everything changes. That’s when your life and/or your business (within your life) thrives. That’s when real success happens.