it's a fine, fine line between confident and cocky. unless i'm dealing with romance; in that arena my fine line is between cowardice and social ineptitude. but, this post is not about romance. it's about a dishwasher and premature mental defeat.
my sister's husband is installing a new dishwasher at their house. he is not a plumber, nor is he an electrician. or for that matter a carpenter, stonemason, architect, mechanic or in any way related to a building profession. his father is a judge in a small town, and he works retail logistics. he's a smart man, with a bachelor's degree in the agricultural economics.
they bought their house shortly before they were married in the fall of 2010 and it needed a little work. so they did it. replacing cabinet doors, no problem. painting, done in a jiffy. moving boxes, furniture, kids; done, done, done. appliances... "maybe we should call a professional" my sister suggested. if i know him, he stood quietly, arms crossed, inspecting his foe for a moment. "i think i got it" he probably mused.
there lay his fatal error. yoda said "do or do not. there is no try." yoda was entirely correct.
defeat lies in the mind, and attacking anything - learning guitar, cooking, rock climbing, financial success - generally requires that one be able to presuppose success. there are exceptions, last ditch efforts, miracles (coincidences), that sort of thing, but rarely do they intervene in such a mundane task as appliance installation. also, assuming success means that failure is not an endpoint, but a mile marker on the path to achievement. it's just what not to do next time.
that's a long road to my point, which is that i can't seem to approach a task or challenge without assuming it's accomplishable, defeatable, surmountable. not to put forth that i've never failed, but failing spectacularly is, in it's way, a success.
do you mentally defeat yourself before approaching a task or challenge? have you tried baselessly assuring yourself that you can, and will, succeed? it works wonders.
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