We are told that failure is an essential part of growth. It is something that we need to accept. If we are not failing often enough and hard enough, then we aren’t making progress. While it is wonderful to be able to make that argument intellectually, it is another thing entirely to respond to it personally. Our obsession with the negative isn’t about embracing failure; it’s about avoiding it. Perfectionism doesn’t reflect an obsession with excellence so much as an intolerance for mistakes. Our brains actively work to avoid situations where there is the possibility of failure, and discourages taking action that might result in pain. Actually embracing failure is directly contrary to that outcome, which means that we’ve got our work cut out for us.
Holding Ourselves Accountable
Accountability is a complex and difficult thing. We expect it of others, but reserve wiggle room for ourselves. Especially when we are making promises to our selves. The need to set ourselves up for success, rather than leaving the door open for failure.
The Unbearable Madness Of Being: Our Risk Obsession
Look out! Be careful! That’s dangerous! Should you really be doing that?! Risk has become quite the four-letter-word. It is, in certain circles, the new fetish to obsess about. In corporate corridors, over boardroom tables and in workshops and meetings (especially in workshops and meetings) risk management is a topic of seemingly endless discussion.
On Learning: Hurtling off the Cliff
As children, we embrace learning new skills and abilities with a vengeance. In that we start life with no skills, and pretty much everything around us is fascinating and interesting, and we want to be able to do things that others already understand, we eagerly embrace the unknown. What is fascinating at this age, however, […]