Uncharted Territory, Part II
"They say that time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself."
- Andy Warhol
"I wonder how often we 'discuss' to avoid facing the issues that are staring us in the face – issues that require us to change in order to progress."
- Gordon Byrn
A few days ago I wrote about some of the issues that I have been facing as I have "embraced" new challenges. The issues of mental fatigue, and fear of failure are definitely things that I have been working through, but there is another issue that I have recognized a few weeks ago. It is a derivative of fear of failure. As I think about this experience I can't find one word that encompasses the experience. For the purpose of this blog I will call it the "get up and ask a question" moment.
Lately I have been working on some projects that are new territory for me. Often times I will hit a perceived snag and get a little jittery. Instead of sitting with the question, doing my best to figure it out, returning to it, and doing my best to figure it out, I'll get up and go talk to a manager about this. Granted there are times when a professional needs direction as they are just spinning their wheels, but this is not what I am talking about. I am talking about the moments when I shy away from "embracing the challenge." The fear of a potentially negative outcome takes me out of the moment, and I want to tap out for a few minutes--sometimes the rest of the workday.
I have seen similar behavior in my training for World Championships. Instead of consistently taking on longer sets to build my cardio base, I'll default to a work out of short freestyle sets, a long kick set, and short IM sets. Whereas these all have their place in training, the major hurdle I need to jump is that of the "base" establishment.
I started working on addressing this professional hindrance this week. It was a challenge. But as I resolved to sit at my desk, and keep going where appropriate, I felt like I was beginning to develop some new professional muscle--which felt good. My project for swimming is to do some sets with 200s as base distance today and be aware of how it feels when I want to shorten the distance.
My mind has gotten to be a much softer place over the past year, but there are still areas that need some attention. The nice thing is that I am aware of the changes that I would like to see made, and they don't scare the pants off me anymore. I am no longer frightened by the fact that there are things that need some attention. I think that quality in itself is the foundation for true progress.
Namaste
- Andy Warhol
"I wonder how often we 'discuss' to avoid facing the issues that are staring us in the face – issues that require us to change in order to progress."
- Gordon Byrn
A few days ago I wrote about some of the issues that I have been facing as I have "embraced" new challenges. The issues of mental fatigue, and fear of failure are definitely things that I have been working through, but there is another issue that I have recognized a few weeks ago. It is a derivative of fear of failure. As I think about this experience I can't find one word that encompasses the experience. For the purpose of this blog I will call it the "get up and ask a question" moment.
Lately I have been working on some projects that are new territory for me. Often times I will hit a perceived snag and get a little jittery. Instead of sitting with the question, doing my best to figure it out, returning to it, and doing my best to figure it out, I'll get up and go talk to a manager about this. Granted there are times when a professional needs direction as they are just spinning their wheels, but this is not what I am talking about. I am talking about the moments when I shy away from "embracing the challenge." The fear of a potentially negative outcome takes me out of the moment, and I want to tap out for a few minutes--sometimes the rest of the workday.
I have seen similar behavior in my training for World Championships. Instead of consistently taking on longer sets to build my cardio base, I'll default to a work out of short freestyle sets, a long kick set, and short IM sets. Whereas these all have their place in training, the major hurdle I need to jump is that of the "base" establishment.
I started working on addressing this professional hindrance this week. It was a challenge. But as I resolved to sit at my desk, and keep going where appropriate, I felt like I was beginning to develop some new professional muscle--which felt good. My project for swimming is to do some sets with 200s as base distance today and be aware of how it feels when I want to shorten the distance.
My mind has gotten to be a much softer place over the past year, but there are still areas that need some attention. The nice thing is that I am aware of the changes that I would like to see made, and they don't scare the pants off me anymore. I am no longer frightened by the fact that there are things that need some attention. I think that quality in itself is the foundation for true progress.
Namaste
posted by Zen_Accountant at 9:21 AM
3 Comments:
Remind me again. How old are you?
I loved this blog. I sense a huge change. You've developed the ability to discern weakness without the selfcondemnation in previous pages. Next, you'll be cracking jokes about all your neuroses. And, then, they lose a little of their power. And you do that for the next 50 years and you end up a really cool old person.
Of course, you are now a really cool young person.
I've experienced that get up and ask moment many times. I've also been the recipient of other people's get up and ask me. I'm sorry to be a little negative here but most of the time and for most people I think that moment is driven out of laziness rather than fear. Now I know that you are anything buy lazy when it comes to most things so this might not apply to you. However for me it has always just seemed easier to ask someone who probably knows the answer than to figure it out myself. This tendency is one I don't like in myself and I have been endeavoring to fix it; but I still succumb to its awesome power. It is good to understand that there are times that we all need help and there are times we don't.
A good example is one of the auditors that are currently working on our audit. Each day she comes in and asks a bunch questions that I think she could have figured out on her own. Today I was in meetings so I was unavailable. When she comes in she only asked two questions. I remarked "Wow, a short list today." to which she responded, “Yea, I had a bunch of other questions this morning but you were in a meeting, so I figured them out myself."
Hello? Learning experience knocking. Anyone home?
This is one of those moments that she could have learned a great deal about herself. I can only hope that she reflects on it at a later time and understands what she just said.
MAD
...Wow. Way to take the words right out of my mouth! My most recent challenge - leaving one large corporate environment with supervisors and managers of supervisors and vp's and senior vp's where there was always someone more senior than you to answer a question or field the difficult phone call - to being in a very small environment where I am one of three employees and I have eight different titles depending upon the task at hand. Unfortunately I did not gain the titles relative to any obvious gain in knowledge or know-how. I am still rather inexperienced and in a completely different field than I have been in the past. I am surrounded by successful and seasoned executives that cannot be bothered with questions regardless of their significance. I am truly on my own. I have found in these situations it is best to not pretend that I know the answer or try to BS my way through the theoretical explanation of the investment strategy at hand. Blah, blah, blah - I simply say, "I do not know. I will look into that and get back to you." Give me five minutes, half an hour or half a day - the research will be done, I've learned something I didn't know before and the question is answered correctly. Immediacy is such a priority it doesn't always lead to accuracy. I've learned in the last six months in my new positions that I would rather say, "I do not know", then "I was mistaken." That's a whole other issue for another blog Michael.
After all my jibber-jabber: I could have just said - Ditto. Kudos Michael.
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