No Excuses
When I was in high school, the cool thing was to get good grades without trying – or at least without seeming like you tried. This came with many benefits. For example, if you did average, or even poorly on a test, you could always fall back on the excuse that you hadn’t studied. For some reason, in our high school minds, to fail because you had not tried was more respectful than trying and failing. A lack of effort still left for the possibility of latent greatness. But trying and failing, well that just proved you weren’t as competent as the others, even if they had never succeeded themselves.
I identified this limiting belief in college, and made many positive changes in my life as a result. Still, every once in awhile, I notice it coming to surface. I’m aware, for example, that by working on my business full time, I am putting in my full efforts. Thus the danger arises that if the business fails, I cant blame lack of time or a distracted mind. I cant say that if given the chance, I would be a great entrepreneur. The business either will be successful, or it will not. And the fascinating thing is, I’m genuinely more interested to just live it the process of trying than to worry about what the outcome will be.
Posted at August 5, 2005 12:40 PM