If pride got out of the way...

I’ve been thinking about “potential” lately, you know, growth, progress, and elevating ourselves to the next level — how do we get there?

Of course the only way to reach the next level is to stretch. If you want to find out how far you can go, what you can achieve, that is the only way to do it. You know this. And you also know that stretching will often lead to failure.

Many people are not overly interested in stretching or achieving their potential. This is their choice and I respect it immensely. But for those who do, what stops us? Fear? Of course, but there’s also pride.

If pride got out of the way, what would we do, what might we try?
If pride were not a human feeling, what would life look like?
We would take more risks.
We would stretch farther and more often.
We would try something new.
We would get out of our comfort zone.
We would soar.
If whatever we take on does not work out we would learn and not be embarrassed.
We would move on.

If we start a venture we believe in and it doesn’t go as planned, we would not feel defeated and take the learning for the next one.

If we take a job that is too big or too tough and we did not succeed, we’d be willing to say, I tried. And if the option were available, we would step back to another role within the same organization rather than feel the need to leave in order to save face.

But pride often gets in the way.

Pride would rather have us leave. It makes us feel defeated and embarrassed. Pride halts our progress. What a shame.

We should make it a habit to reward people who try, the risk-takers, those who are willing to challenge their status quo, and we should protect those who agree to stretch too far.

Let the measure of success be defined by our attempts to try rather than the deceptive mediocrity of comfort and stability.

If pride got out of the way, then we would quantify our success much the same way Michel de Montaigne does: “I do not care so much what I am to others as I care what I am to myself.”

On a similar note, I'll share an additional thought on what we should do when we push forward towards something and it doesn't work out, or when the answer is no.

 Post originally published on Tangerine's Forward Thinking blog.