When We Think We Have It All Figured Out
How many times do we catch ourselves thinking we have it all worked out? Maybe this is a symptom of being young. Maybe not necessarily young but naive.
I can certainly recall, quite embarrassingly, how I thought certain things did not apply to me because of what I had learned and thought I knew better and had things figured out. An embarrassing revelation. This was not a dominant thing in my life but it was there and a symptom of an unmastered ego.
The reason this topic came to mind was because of a work experience that highlighted this. I was asked to go to a conference. It was something I gave little thought to. I had this preconception that I would not learn anything of particular value. In fact I thought embarrassingly that I had probably heard it all before.
The reality was that it was a five day experience of a country that was completely new to me. A capital city in one of the best hotels I have ever stayed in. The conference itself was both enjoyable and enlightening and provided me with invaluable knowledge and great contacts. How wrong I was to assume such things.
It is so easy for us to be wrapped up in our present cocoon of knowledge and experiences. One in which we do not extend out of our comfort zone. We tend to not make the effort, and an effort it is, to really listen to others and analyse what their message is.
As an example of the opposite of this, just recently I read of a football coach who was so passionate about exploring any avenue to improve his understanding that he drove five hours and sat listening to an architect, yes a construction architect, give a talk. He thought this professional may have been able to offer something that would improve his own understanding and practice. Now that is being an eternal student and putting your own ideas to one side to truly explore.
It was Emerson who said that in some way, every man or woman is our superior. Everyone can teach us something, if only we are open to it. No one says we have to take other people’s attitudes and opinions on. We often learn how ‘not to be’ when we experience undesirable things. It is all still learning.
Wise business leaders say that they either earn or learn. If the deal or investment does not create a profit monetarily, it should do so in terms of wisdom. It really is in our trials and difficulties where our greatest opportunities lie.
Unearth a player who has not tasted the dirt of defeat and you have a vulnerable shell on your hands. A pearl is only a pearl because it involved the process of an irritant as the catalyst to the beautiful end product.
I’ve heard it said that we never get it all done. I’m sure this is true. As Jim Rohn so wonderfully described, each evening you add another fragmented and seemingly insignificant piece to the mosaic that is your life. Hopefully we all learn, sooner rather than later, we have the ability to create and craft our own masterpiece.
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