Milestones vs. change

Our new website is near completion and today we are all changing our profile pictures that were taken a few weeks ago.  The last time this happened was more than four years ago, and a lot has changed since then.  I was particularly reminded of this fact over the holiday weekend as September 2 was both my ninth anniversary of joining Capstone and my twelfth wedding anniversary.  Then September 3 was my twelfth anniversary of turning 25. 

I am incredibly grateful for what has comprised the last twelve years personally and professionally.  I have been blessed at home with a wife I couldn't live without, along with three precious children that are all growing up way too fast.  Add in an incredible employer that pushes me to be the best I can professionally and it seems like a blink of an eye when considering what the last decade-plus looks like.

At first I was proud of the milestones and I thoroughly enjoyed the trip down memory lane over the past several days.  Then I got to thinking about all of the change that has occurred during this timeframe and that is even more exciting the more I thought about it.  I don't think I would have had all of the accomplishments I have achieved without embracing the change that came along with the territory.  I have had to be a different husband with each new child we added to the Winterboer fold.  I have had to be a different father each time as well.  I have had new pressures on my time management with work in the midst of these changes, and that continues to change as my kids' schedules seem busier than mine most days.

Many more changes have occurred at Capstone over the past nine years.  I have been forced to embrace technology like never before, I have had to adapt to changing economic pressures, I have been forced to diversify how we deliver customized solutions to our clients, and I have had to interact differently with candidates during the past 3-4 years of increasing unemployment.

Here is the question I pose to you -- is aiming for long term milestones or being adaptable to constant change more important in order to be successful going into 2013 and beyond?