From Chapter 8: Lighten Up!
The title says it all; I really need to lighten up! I am currently in the midst of trying to soak in this positive attitude. For example, when I reflect on something really embarrassing I'd said that day or something regretuful that I'd done, I used to have this urge to just slap myself in the face! But I'm finding that with enough time and focus on other matters, it's possible to make even the most disastrous memories into something to laugh about. It's funny when shared with others and it's interesting personally to see how much you've matured since then. I guess in a sense, it is a way of following through with Dan Pink's second question about whether or not we are better than whom we were yesterday.
In addition, I can relate with Shackleton's concept of trying to look for things to celebrate about or "small wins" in every situation. I was reminded of my first year at ICU, when I was on the basketball team. As a beginner, it was very challenging to keep up with the team's performance and mentality. I often looked down on myself when I couldn't do as well as I wanted to. But for some reason, I was really into getting the rebounds. No matter how tired I was, I always dived in to get the ball and it was one of the rare things that I was praised for by my coach. That probably encouraged me to try harder. I consider this as one of the small wins, as opposed to a large win such as winning the game. I don't think I was able to make an outstanding contribution to the overall win/lose result, but I did try to focus on the small wins leading up to it.
Hi Kaya,
ReplyDeleteI love reading your posts not only because you express yourself so well but because you seem to always get so much out of the book and apply it so well to your own life.
I too used to agonize over little mistakes I would make with colleagues or groups, but now I am so much more inclined to laugh about it. And I have learned that what seemed like something I did was really stupid, maybe others hardly noticed.
Ken