There’s too much talk about improvement and growth and too little talk about acceptance and contentment.
Wanting to be better, wanting to have more, wanting to learn and move forward, these are all very commendable aspirations. But when they get applied to every situation and when we look at them in the shortest possible amount of time, they are just going to eat us.
Life is not that long, and we need to find a way to be OK with what we have, with who we are.
One of the things that’s more infuriating is acting in a way that does not fit the image we have of ourselves.
Raising the voice when we like to think we are calm and understanding.
Cheating at a game when we like to think we are fair and honest.
Gossiping to fit in when we like to think we are open and trustworthy.
And the funny thing is that it’s true whether we have a clear idea of who we want to be or not.
But if we don’t know what we want to be, we’ll never figure out what infuriates us, nor we will ever do anything to correct that.
If your dream is something you are 100% sure you will be achieving, something you are comfortable with, something you have already done before, that’s not a dream.
If your project is something that no one else has ever achieved, something that is not well defined, something that will take years to complete, that’s not a project.
Using the right definitions and assumptions for the right thing will bring you close to success.
When you have a project that matters, it’s silly to keep it to yourself.
Much better to share it, to go over ideas and obstacles with other people, to celebrate successes with those involved and analyze failures with those you trust.
But you also have to keep mind that everyone has an opinion, and everyone has their own experience.
So, if you plan to try everything that comes up in these conversations, even when it is with somebody who clearly have something to contribute, you will soon be lost.
Note that the more people are involved in the project, the greater the confusion will be.
Sometimes you get asked something that it is not possible to deliver or something that you do not know how to deliver. And then our natural inclination is to overdo, split hairs, change plans, stress us and others, look for additional information. Everything in the attempt to find the answer.
A good reminder is that “I don’t know” is always a viable starter in these cases. It builds credibility, it opens us to learning, it welcomes new possibilities, and it accepts the idea of failure.
Perhaps some people will not accept it as an answer.
Good luck trying to make them happy in one of the other ways.
You've got this 