"There are no rules here, we are trying to accomplish something"

I almost love this quote... almost.

According to the Oxford dictionary, the definition of "accomplish" is:

achieve or complete successfully

I love this quote because there are indeed, no rules here. However; trying to "accomplish" something indicates there is a finish line. Completion. Arrival. Closure.

What if we just keep moving the needle? What if it's a progression and not a finish line? We don't always have answers. We have a lot of observations. we have a lot of thoughts. We have a lot of bright ideas that we try. Some are great, some fail completely, but from each of those experiences, we learn, and we progress and we move the needle a little further. When it comes to accomplishing something, sure there are times that completion is relevant. Completing a degree or certification, or maybe finishing a project big or small, maybe our daily tasks, but it's been my experience that there are few instances where we fully arrive. Even finishing a project leads into another project until your career, or the direction of an organization is not defined by a single success, but a collection of successes, completions and finish lines. But they are also a collection of experiments, failures, lessons and experiences. All of the failures or incompletions are just as, if not more important as the successes or completions in giving space to learn, refine and advance. As Brené Brown said,

There is no innovation and creativity without failure. Period.

I have yet to see an organization announce, "that's it! We've completed our mission. We've finished everything we want to finish, so we're closing up shop and going out of business." Sure people retire, resign, move on, but in reality, life's only finish line is death, so in the meantime, we learn, adapt, grow, innovate. We might do so in our careers, in our education, or in our personal lives, parenting, hobbies, and recreation, but we all do it. It's human nature. Success is the journey, not the finish line.

So let's change the definition of accomplish from "achieve or complete successfully", to

 try new things, experiment and learn from experiences.

There are no rules here.