People are busy setting records for being the fastest to go the distance, or the quickest to accomplish something.  But, a story on GMA the other day about the longest married couple, (they’ve been married for 73 years!  Congratulations!) got me thinking about the pride in longevity.

Queen Elizabeth is already Britain’s longest reigning monarch, serving longer than Queen Victoria’s 63+ years on the throne, but now she’s zeroing in on the longest reigning monarch in known history, with only four years to go to out-serve King Louis XIV of France’s 72 years. 

Then there’s one of my favorites:  Kelsey Grammar ending the run of Frasier one season after he’d portrayed Dr. Frasier Crane for one year longer than James Arness portrayed Marshal Matt Dillion on Gunsmoke. 

PR/PR Public Relations has the 20-year mark in the rear-view mirror.  We were founded in the late ‘90s, and I’m proud to say still going strong.  Through terrorist attacks, great recessions, pandemics, and other factors affecting the speaking industry, we continue to get our speaker, consultant, and author clients’ content positioned in front of their target market.

All this being said, it also brings me back to something many human resource consultants ask, “Do you have an employee with five years’ experience, or one with one-year experience repeated five times?”  In other words:  longevity doesn’t mean much if you haven’t learned much. 

You must be willing to change, adapt, and move forward as you gain longevity.  The Queen certainly learned that lesson with her initial reaction to the tragic death of Lady Diana. 

Loving what you do helps.  Loving the people you do it with helps.  But if you start something hoping it never changes, chances are you won’t be in it for the long-haul.  There are many rewards for going the distance and sticking with your passion, you just have to stay around long enough to see them!