Pushing to the Failure Point
Last post we explored self-esteem and how it affects your ability to admit when you were wrong or made a mistake. But there’s another aspect of making mistakes that we should discuss. And that is being so wrong about something you attempt – or even so unprepared – that you produce a spectacular failure.
Making Mistakes
The person who doesn’t make mistakes doesn’t make anything. When you allow mistakes to happen, you learn and grow. The person waiting to do anything until they can do it perfectly, ends up living a life of mediocrity.
I Have Been Arrogant, Insensitive, and Stupid. A Confession…
A couple weeks back, I wrote a blog about who I wanted to become when this whole pandemic was in the rearview mirror. (ICYMI, read it here.) The message seemed to resonate with a lot of people who shared both online and off, the many things they desired to achieve during their time isolating at home. It was wonderful to see people committing to better health, personal development, and seeking wisdom. Even though I came down with COVID-19 myself, I still made great progress on my list. Judging by the response, it seems a lot of you did as well.
Loving to Hate
In America today, we absolutely love to hate each other. (This post is about United States, but if you change the labels, it’s probably accurate for the situation in most other countries.) Of course, pitting one group of people against another group has been standard operating procedure for immoral political leaders for centuries. And this is certainly the case with our culture wars now. The Hillary haters and the Trump haters never took a break after the election. Each side just reloaded their arsenal and the vitriolic fight rages on, with the coronavirus pandemic as the new battle ground.
There is a suffocating amount of evidence that this fighting has been inflamed by foreign governments emotionally manipulating us like puppets, with social media platforms as a powerful conduit. Now the coronavirus pandemic enters at a perfect storm of fear, anxiety, and helplessness. People want to lash out…
How Much is Enough?
“So how much is enough, anyway?” Depending on who is asking the question and the context they’re asking it, that question either is:
A brilliant inquiry that takes us deep into a well-questioned premise on what makes us happy.
Possibly one of the most prejudicial, slanted, and lack-centered statements ever uttered.
Make-Believe Leadership
There’s a huge delta between what most people perceive as leadership and what true leadership actually entails. The textbook case study of this is President Donald Trump. For mental health reasons we won’t explore here, he’s a big fan of make-believe leadership. The Apprentice was the perfect platform for Trump because it allowed him to play a leader on TV. He didn’t have to make real decisions or face real consequences, because there was a safety net in place to make sure he always looked like a commanding captain of industry. No one on the show could file a complaint with HR about getting fired for some petty contrived controversy because it was a make-believe show. The participants had all willingly signed up for the reality show schtick.
Take the #2021Challenge
Today, I have some homework for you. I want you to write something. A journal entry of your perfect day. But not just any perfect day. This entry will be dated January 1, 2021. And it’s going to be a celebration of the fact that 2020 was the best year of your life. Really.
Why You Do What You Do
I used to think I wanted to write books to be famous. Then I used to think I wanted to write songs that made the whole world sing. Next I thought I wanted to write movies that won me Oscars. Or TV shows that won Emmys.
The Friends You Lose…
Twenty years ago, I had dozens of friends. Or what I thought were friends at that stage in my life. In reality, none of those people were ones I could count on, or really become close with. Kind of like all those Facebook friendships you’ve probably developed.
Detours, Reroutes, and U-turns
It took getting fired for me to recognize I was born to be an entrepreneur.
It took the tax authorities seizing my restaurant and auctioning it off for the unpaid taxes to help me discover my true purpose in life.
It took getting shot and left for dead for me to truly live life.
