Don't Believe Everything You Think!

Mark Twain said, “It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so."

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• Giving sugar to kids makes them hyper
• Dropping a penny off the Empire State Building could kill someone
• Driving barefoot is illegal
• A human is incapable of running a mile faster the four minutes

OK, so we all know that last one isn't so, but until Roger Bannister ran a mile in a time of 3:59.4 in 1954, it was believed that a human could not run a mile in less than four minutes.

Bannister was unique. He was sure it could be done, so he found a way to do it.

How many people never attempted it because they knew for sure it could not be done?

The big problems with the things we know for sure that "just ain't so" are
1)They affect our behavior
2)They give us an excuse to not step out
3)Because we "just know for sure", we can become emotionally attached to defending them.

These phantom facts can be as innocuous as those I listed above to some that are severely limiting.

Since 2004, my team and I have done quite a bit of work with job seekers and those who are in some form of career transition. I've noted through the years that the most difficult question for someone in transition to answer is "What do you really WANT to do for a living?"

Adults seem to have this inability to answer that question because we "know for sure" it's irrelevant, childish and unproductive. When I ask that question, I usually hear one of two answers: Either "I have no idea" or "I can't earn a living doing what I want to do" 

At least those with the second answer have some idea what they want to do. :-)

Here's another question for you: What do you really want to do? Not just for a living, but is there something you really want to do that seems to allude you like the proverbial carrot on the end of an ever-moving stick?  If there is, ask yourself what's keeping you from achieving this goal.

Seriously, take some time to sit in a quiet place without interruption and record all the obstacles to doing what you really want to do. Just list them.

Now do some research.  Take some time and expend some effort to find out how many of those obstacles are real and how many "just ain't so". How many of them can be mitigated?

When Bannister describes his quest to break the four minute mile, he tells about finding new ways to train and run. He dealt with emotional and psychological obstacles. He considered all conditions: the track's location, weather, what he should eat the day of the run.


By the way, if you think any of those things I opened with are so, do some real research. After dispelling those and whatever is holding you back, you might find that success suits you.

Put Your Best Foot Forward

How do you know which is your best foot?

One of the neat things about being on the journey of continuous improvement (CI) is being able to say, "I'm not perfect and haven't peaked, but I'll be better tomorrow."  

With this, comes the temptation to let something slip or do less than our (current) best and write it off to the idea that "Well, I'm a work in progress.  I'll do better next time."

Continuous improvement demands that we're honest about where we are in any particular area of life so that we can know we're in need of continued work. Of course, knowing where we are (our current best) demands that we give that best no matter what.

The constant evaluation that is part of Continuous Improvement should not be ammo to unduly criticize ourselves.  It should, instead, be fuel for celebration. Every step of improvement should be celebrated because we're one step better - one step farther away from the old state.  Our current state is the reward for our CI struggles.  When viewed from from this perspective, why would we not want to always give our current best?  Giving less than our best at any time does a disservice and pays disrespect to the effort and struggles that have gotten us where we are (where ever that may be).

Keep giving your best, and keep making that best even better.  Celebrate every new step as a new victory.  Remember, Semper Meliori is not about criticism and dwelling on the old.  it's about celebration and looking forward to the new.