As each rung of the career ladder seems measured by successes noted, José Olivera shares a poignant reminder that showing up with integrity and good intentions is more important than external validation.
A reflection inspired by Mother Teresa, for professionals of every path and belief
A line often attributed to Mother Teresa has been echoing in my mind these weeks. The phrasing varies depending on who tells it, but the spirit remains unchanged: God does not ask us to be successful, only to be faithful.
When I first heard it, I thought it belonged in a church. Yet the older I get, the more I see how deeply it applies to the professional world most of us inhabit every day. The offices. The Monday mornings. The promotions, the restructurings, the burnouts, the triumphs that are never as glamorous as they look on LinkedIn.
The idea that you are not defined by the outcome, but by the way you show up, feels almost rebellious today. Most of our careers run on metrics, goals, KPIs, OKRs, and quarterly reviews. We are taught to chase results as if everything depended on that final number. And this chase shapes us. It sharpens our ambition and discipline, but it also makes it easy to forget the one thing that is actually within our control: our intention, our consistency, our integrity. In other words, our faithfulness to the work.
For those who resonate with Mother Teresa’s religious framing, the message is simple. It is not your job to engineer every outcome. Your responsibility is to act with devotion and honesty, to give your best and trust that the rest has its own timing. There is freedom in that. A deep exhale.
For those who do not share the same faith, or who practice another tradition, the essence remains the same. Every philosophy, from Stoicism to Buddhism to Islam to Judaism to Hinduism to modern psychology, echoes this principle with different words. Focus on what you can influence. Let go of what you cannot. Show up with intention. Serve with commitment. Do the right thing even when the scoreboard is not in your favor. Honor the process, not the applause.
Read the article, Showing Up When Success Isn’t Guaranteed, on Medium.