Prisoners of the MomentIt’s so easy isn’t it?
To be caught up in the whirlwind of success or the misery of failure. Both stunt progress and impede growth. It really can be debilitating from either direction. Success has a knack for convincing us that we’ve arrived, that we’re good enough. It jumps at the slightest opportunity to flatter us into becoming impressed with ourselves. Justifying that we could accomplish the same things with just a little less work, a little less struggle is the very description of complacency. Then, we wonder what happened? Where our warm and fuzzy success went. It’s still in the exact same place we left it. Failure shows us the other side of the coin. It points us to the futility of the work we’ve invested. Failure begs for excuses to soothe the ego that wants to be impressed by itself. We rationalize all the obstacles we have that others aren’t encumbered by. And, we begin to lower the standards of expectation to the point that we no longer feel the pain of failure. Good enough, begins to be our calling card. Why Should We Care? You know who is really good at not being a prisoner of the moment? Little kids and dogs. Little kids just play. No fear of embarrassment or failure and no expectation of making this crayon drawing their life’s work. They are rebels in the best sense of the word. They are unfazed with failure. Just consider the number of times a child learning to walk falls down and gets back up. At no point does he ever say, “Eh, maybe this walking thing just isn’t for me.” Kids treat success in a similar fashion. They never try to reduce their effort to the minimum necessary to accomplish the task. No way. It’s all out or nothing. Check out the kindergartner coming in from recess dripped in sweat with a hole in the knees of his pants. Less than all he had was never an option. I love dogs and much of it is for this reason. They’re never prisoners of the moment. They don’t acknowledge failure and are blind to success. Our basset hound is as detached from the approval of others as any thing on the planet. It makes me smile. And we adults think we’re the sophisticated ones … REAL TALK - Action Steps Avoiding the trap of becoming a prisoner of the moment is simple, but not easy. We’ve been trained for a long time to be victims of success and failure. A mindshift is needed badly.
We want to be present. That’s when we’re at our best. However, our ability to immediately move to the next present moment will determine our lot in life. Leaders understand that life is a series of present moments and staying in any single one limits our ability to be our best. For more information on building excellence in your teams, visit us at www.bluecollargrit.com. We would love to know how we could help!
1 Comment
Dan Cunningham
11/29/2022 11:55:26 am
Coach Cupps,
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About bcI'm a teacher, coach, and parent seeking excellence while defining success on my own terms. Archives
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