Slackers
"What if it isn't good enough?"- A quiet question
I believe that often we ask this question of ourselves. Unfortunately it is done quietly in our minds and not out loud. If it was loud we would hear it an quickly realize it as a limitation we are placing on ourselves.
So why do we ask this question?
In my opinion we often ask this question when we are attempting something for which we can not assure the end result. If we are running a race and have never seen the course but are predicting a certain outcome, we might not push ourselves and give ourselves the out when we do not finish it in good time. By saying it was a new course we can give ourselves a break as to why we did not succeed.
We do not only back off from doing our best when it comes to stretching our own limits . The ugly truth is that we often do this when competing against others. We might believe that we can beat the other guy but during the race pull back and slow down. Why? What if we are wrong and maybe we are not as good as the other guy?
This phenomenon is very interesting to me. When I used to teach martial arts classes we often instructed the students not to punch with full force but to pull back their punches. The punches were suppose to touch and slightly push into the opponent. The punches and kicks were not suppose to bend the other person over and wince with pain. I understood the reason but often believed that this set the students up for failure. What happens is if they are ever in a fight they tend to pull their punches back and the opponent easily hurts them instead of them stopping the opponent.
So we pull back from doing our best. This slacking allows us to give ourselves a pass when we fail. Because if we really give it 100% and it is still not good enough then maybe we are not good enough. That truth might be too hard for us to accept.
Today's question is:
"How do you stop yourself from slacking?"
"What if it isn't good enough?"- A quiet question
I believe that often we ask this question of ourselves. Unfortunately it is done quietly in our minds and not out loud. If it was loud we would hear it an quickly realize it as a limitation we are placing on ourselves.
So why do we ask this question?
In my opinion we often ask this question when we are attempting something for which we can not assure the end result. If we are running a race and have never seen the course but are predicting a certain outcome, we might not push ourselves and give ourselves the out when we do not finish it in good time. By saying it was a new course we can give ourselves a break as to why we did not succeed.
We do not only back off from doing our best when it comes to stretching our own limits . The ugly truth is that we often do this when competing against others. We might believe that we can beat the other guy but during the race pull back and slow down. Why? What if we are wrong and maybe we are not as good as the other guy?
This phenomenon is very interesting to me. When I used to teach martial arts classes we often instructed the students not to punch with full force but to pull back their punches. The punches were suppose to touch and slightly push into the opponent. The punches and kicks were not suppose to bend the other person over and wince with pain. I understood the reason but often believed that this set the students up for failure. What happens is if they are ever in a fight they tend to pull their punches back and the opponent easily hurts them instead of them stopping the opponent.
So we pull back from doing our best. This slacking allows us to give ourselves a pass when we fail. Because if we really give it 100% and it is still not good enough then maybe we are not good enough. That truth might be too hard for us to accept.
Today's question is:
"How do you stop yourself from slacking?"
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