Article by Catherine Wijnberg (Founder of Fetola)
Magic happens when you choose to look at everything as an opportunity to learn and grow.
This week, my message is a little personal. I am one of five children born and raised in Zambia and recently my two brothers visited from overseas for a long-awaited family reunion. As they were leaving to return to the USA and the UK, my brother Andrew turned to me and said they had decided that ‘I had got all the happy genes”. Whether it’s true or not, it set me thinking about the ability and importance of staying upbeat.
Let’s be honest: staying upbeat is both an art and an act of defiance. Some days, being a leader can feel like juggling flaming torches while riding a bicycle blindfolded. Clients challenge you, mistakes happen and team morale wavers just when you need it most. And yet, your energy is the fuel that drives the whole ship forward.
So, the question is, how does one stay upbeat? Not by pretending everything is fine when it’s not. The art lies in holding both truths at once: the pressure and the possibility. It’s learning to pause long enough to breathe, acknowledge the chaos, and choose optimism, not because things are perfect, but because you know that the way you see things determines how you deal with them.
Of course, it’s impossible to be upbeat all the time. We are not robots. We are human beings with doubts, fears and deadlines. And when the weight feels heavy, that’s okay. Being upbeat doesn’t mean faking joy; it means cultivating resilience. It’s the difference between saying, “I’ve hit a wall” and saying, “I’ve hit a wall, but I’ll find a way around it.”
Your energy is vital to the people around you. If you walk in with positivity, hope, and a can-do attitude, your team will mirror it. If you show up deflated, they’ll shrink too. As a leader, you are the thermostat of the business. You set the temperature.
To build your inner upbeat toolkit it’s important to embrace resilience, courage and fortitude. Start your day with activities that lift you—music, movement, stillness, whatever works. Find your tribe—the people who excite you and remind you of your strengths. Learn to say, “This too shall pass,” even when it feels like it won’t.
Being upbeat isn’t about bouncing off the walls with excitement. It’s about standing strong in the storms of both highs and lows and saying, “Pause, breathe and look for the way through”
Because real magic happens when you choose to look at everything as an opportunity to learn and grow.