The fifth type of mistaken thinking we can easily fall into during times 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 specific outcome can become a disadvantage, if it makes it difficult for us to adapt changing circumstances.
This does not mean that we need to give up all hope of ever achieving anything. 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.
The way we do this is by knowing 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, in the new context. And knowing the purpose behind our actions will then bring us extra energy and enthusiasm to pursue and achieve our goals.
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! I’ll never amount to anything!”
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 extra energy, enthusiasm, and meaning to our work and our personal life. And when circumstances change then knowing our purpose will enable us to find more options to move forward to achieve that same purpose. It will enable us to combine commitment with flexibility.
All 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 quickly and easily would you be able to shrug it off and focus on another goal? How well 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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