|
|
|
Free Newsletter Sign Up |
|
Great
Ideas To Improve Your Life
950,000
Subscribers
...and Growing
|
|
Free Self Improvement Goodies |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Productivity Tips: Persisting Beyond "Failures"
By
Sharon Teitelbaum |
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
What does a Norway Maple have in common with Sir James Dyson, the inventor of the bagless, transparent vacuum cleaner that is the best-selling vacuum cleaner by revenue in the US? Neither of them gives up.
When I am weeding in my garden and I pull up only half a Maple seedling, I often wonder whether the remaining root has an infinite capacity for sending up shoots, or whether (I always hope) this was the last one, and the plant will now give up. I am no botanist, but I think I know that the plant has an inexhaustible number of tries in it. It will not give up until the season shuts it down.
How much we humans have to learn from weeds! We make an attempt, we don’t succeed, we despair, we give up. OK, sometimes we made repeated attempts that don’t succeed, and then we despair and give up. But there are the occasional outliers among us, like inventor and entrepreneur James Dyson, who persevered through 5,126 prototypes of his vacuum cleaner that didn’t work, and then created his 5,127th prototype, which is now the very successful vacuum cleaner. “But it took him 15 years and nearly his entire savings to develop his bagless, transparent creation” (Fast Company, May, 2007, in an article entitled “Failure Doesn’t Suck”).
I bet my Norway Maple weeds have at least 5,127 tries in them. But how many of us do?
Most of us interpret our “failures” as referendums on our worthiness and intelligence. We respond to the simple data ("this isn't working") with a huge emotional response of (you pick: frustration, irritation, anger, shame, self-loathing, despair, hopelessness, feeling stuck. . . ). This response either takes us out of the game entirely, such that we never make another attempt, or it paralyzes us for a while, requiring a period of recovery before we can get back into the game again. Please note, it’s the emotional response that slows down or stops the process, not the outcome of this particular attempt.
If only we could -- at least some of the time, when especially appropriate -- respond like the Norway Maple: read the data ("attempt thwarted"), SKIP the emotional reaction, and just send out another shoot. Or like James Dyson, whose response boils down to, "That didn’t work. On to the next." How might it impact the results you are creating in your life if you persevered a little longer than you currently do?
COACHING TIPS
Over the next month:
- Pay attention to your "failures," large and small
- Notice whether you have an emotional response to them. If so,
-- Identify the emotion
-- Observe the impact of this emotion on your actions
- Consider making the following single change in the way you manage yourself:
When you observe yourself heading into an emotional reaction to a thwarted attempt, tell yourself you have a choice in this moment, and choose NOT to go into the emotional reaction.
- And now consider making another attempt.
Observe what happens when you stay in action a little longer than usual.
Copyright 2006 Sharon Teitelbaum. All rights reserved.
Author's Bio
Sharon Teitelbaum, Master Certified Coach and author of "Getting Unstuck Without Coming Unglued: Restoring Work-Life Balance," helps busy professionals re-claim their work-life balance. Her coaching, writing, and speaking provide practical, tactical solutions for balance and career challenges. Visit Sharon's website at www.stcoach.com and subscribe to her e-course "The 5 Keys to Reclaiming Your Work-Life Balance” to receive practical tips for work-life success.
|
|
▲Top of Page |
|
|
|
Submit Your Articles