The fifth type of mistaken thinking we can easily fall into during a time of change is called attachment to outcome.
When times are stable, having a strong emotional attachment to a goal can help us to achieve it. But when everything is changing, no outcome is ever guaranteed. Now a strong emotional attachment to a particular goal can become a disadvantage if it makes it difficult for us to adapt changing circumstances.
But this does not mean that we need to give up hope of ever achieving anything in a time of change. Instead, we can learn to thrive in a time of change by doing two apparently opposite things: completely letting go of our emotional attachment to a particular goal, while at the same time completely retaining our intention to achieve it.
This becomes easy when we know our purpose.
When we know our purpose then if circumstances change we can easily let go of our previous goal and look for new goals that will achieve the same purpose. And knowing our purpose will also bring us extra energy and enthusiasm to pursue whatever goal we choose, which will make us more likely to achieve it.
This is the attitude that enabled Thomas Edison to invent the lightbulb. Each time he tried something that didn’t work he didn’t wail, “Oh, no! I’ve failed again!” Instead he said:
“I have not failed, I’ve just found 10,000 ways that don’t work.”
And then he moved on to his next attempt.
In this time of massive churning and change, knowing our purpose will bring us extra energy, enthusiasm, and meaning in our work and in our personal life. It will enable us to combine commitment with flexibility. And when circumstances change then knowing our purpose will enable us to find more options to move forward to achieve that same purpose.
All of this is another step towards becoming antifragile: able to use change to become stronger and more valuable.
What is your top priority today? If that became impossible to achieve, how easily would you be able to shrug it off and move to another goal? How clearly do you know your life’s purpose?
Adapted from Inner Leadership: a framework and tools for building inspiration in times of change.
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