Forsaking and Scapegoating (I’ll tell you later)

Written By: Dr. Rich Houston, Director of the Culverhouse School of Accountancy

I’ve become fascinated by the end-of-history illusion. It states that, while people realize that they’ve evolved from who they once were to who they are now, they fail to recognize that they will continue to change in the future.1

Here’s a passage from a book I’m reading that captures the concept well. The context is an adult coming across a book that a teacher gave him when he was in grade school. He had barely started the book when he set it aside 30 years ago.

What she had wanted him to understand was that scary beginnings need not lead to dismal outcomes. He did not realize that he wouldn’t remain a terrified boy forever, probably because he couldn’t imagine himself as anything other than what he was right then. Couldn’t imagine that one day he’d be a man. If he’d just kept reading, he would have learned this valuable lesson and been comforted by it, but he’d been too frightened. Well, he thought, he would read the book now. He owed that much to the woman who’d had a higher opinion of him than he had of himself. Prove to her that he was no longer a frightened child.

But I thought I was ready. Remco Evenepoel won the 2022 Vuelta a Espa?a bicycle race, and many expected him to win in 2023. His performance had him in a great position until the 13th of 21 stages, where he failed dramatically, thereby ending his chances. He believed he was prepared, having trained hard for countless hours, but obviously he wasn’t.

See the parallel? You studied for exam 1 in a way that’s always worked before, but it’s not enough this time. You’re puzzled and frustrated because you worked a large number of hours, although your performance suggests otherwise. At this point, what’s important is not that you faltered, but rather what you do next.

Back to Remco.2 After Stage 13, the commentators speculated that he might quit. Instead, he won the 14th stage in dominant fashion, and was competitive in most every stage after that. After he won Stage 14, he said: “Yesterday was a very difficult day, also the evening. I couldn’t sleep too much, I had a very bad night, a lot of negative thoughts in my head. Today I woke up and I thought to myself ‘just go for it’.”

Why is the title forsaking and scapegoating? Because the other day Sydney used both of those words in a conversation, and I said I’d use both of them in a sentence. As a bonus, the sentence reads vaguely like a fortune cookie. Forsaking the opportunities available to you and scapegoating others for your shortcomings could cause you to drop the class, or strongly consider changing majors.

However, choosing to persevere, realizing it’s not how much you study it’s how you study, and attacking the next test with confidence could very well yield a different outcome on exam 2. If you don’t think “today you” can, perhaps “tomorrow you” will.

More about Mom. I intended to be done writing about my Mom, but there are a couple of additional things I need to say. Two weeks ago, we traveled to where she lived and had the sweetest celebration of life. We met so many great people and heard so many great things. My insights are as much for you to aspire to as they are about what we learned.

• I thought of the expression “see yourself as others see you,” hoping that she saw herself the way it was clear they all saw her. Do you truly understand how others see you, and do you comport yourself in a manner that will lead to the same outcome as my Mom’s?
• Someone said that living where she did brought out the best version of herself. Are you putting yourself out there and surrounding yourself with people that bring out the best version of yourself?
• After a life of feeling as if she was on the outside looking in, she finally was one of the popular kids. Is it clear that it’s never too late to develop into the best version of yourself? All you need to do is give yourself the chance.

1 Note to tax people. Are you impressed that I used the words realize and recognize correctly in the same sentence? Well, I was, and perhaps that’s all that matters.

2 Remco was also the name of a toy company that made cool products like these: