I read ‘The Alchemist’ by Paulo Coelho years back. When I read it, it had an effect on me. But I must confess, as the years went by, I found Coelho’s writing too sugary and littered with too many platitudes for my liking. These days, when I am looking for a jolt, I turn to Seth Godin, Tom Peters or listen to some great podcasts to perk me up. At the same time, the word ‘alchemist’ has always fascinated me.
‘Alchemy’ is the process of transforming something ordinary into a thing of beauty.
An alchemist is a person who transforms the culture in an organisation from closed and fearful to open and sharing.
An alchemist is a player who lifts their team by raising their game and snatching victory from defeat.
An alchemist is a teacher who transforms a boring subject and has students eating out of their hand.
But getting to this stage means crossing the first two hurdles — that of pessimism and optimism.
Pessimism is a hurdle. And so are pessimists. They will do everything in their power to thwart change and retain status quo. They are energy vampires and keeping them at bay is essential.
Optimism and optimists are great, but not enough. Optimism helps you move, envision a better future. Optimism adds energy into a room and optimists are generally better company than pessimists.
The third part is alchemy. This is the part where you actually do the work of taking what you have and creating something amazing.
Simply put, alchemy is accessible to anyone who chooses to put forth the work of being an alchemist.
