Why persisting is not of the devil?
We have often heard and used this saying: "To err is human, to persist is of the devil"
Do we. really, know where it comes from and what the real meaning is? I honestly don't give a damn. To me it just sounds like an admonition to never make a mistake.
It is also true that in this day and age we are bombarded with a flood of inputs and fears. We have so much information at our fingertips that sometimes we don't know what to do with it. In fact, some times it gives us more doubt than certainty. Instead of basing our choices on our own feelings we seek the opinions of others and become conditioned on the decisions we make with the result that, in the end, we give ourselves justifications for deciding one thing rather than another.
Basically, we are so afraid of making mistakes that we take ages to choose a restaurant, vacation, computer, purse, car and any other damn sh... _Does anyone realize the time wasted? Is it right not to squander? Is it better to be careful? Perhaps, certain purchases, certain choices should be made differently and with more appropriate criteria? that is another story.
What I mean is that preventing every ailment is becoming an obsession. From catching an edge on the head to catching a cold. From the tight shoe to planning whether or not it will rain that given day and then choosing the restaurant according to that.
There is, in short, an obsession with not getting it wrong, so pressing that getting it wrong is no longer so human, let alone persisting.
This thing, unfortunately, occurs not only in private life but also, and especially, in work environments. There is no longer any margin for error; everything is done under the banner of risk management. There are more controllers than salespeople, more risk managers than workers. In short, to err is everything. Or rather, NOT to err is everything.
The thing that drives me crazy is that in multinational companies they push you to take all those courses where they invite you to be creative, teamwork, brainstorming etc? ops, my bad...That was five years ago. Now the courses are on procedures, safety, tools to use to plan every little detail in advance.
Principals, teachers, and all supervisory bodies rack their brains to see what possible cases should be avoided and how to prevent certain issues (btw, we could talk endlessly about the effectiveness of certain decisions).
Not to mention performance evaluations, achievements, and how certain mistakes are stigmatized. And this unfortunately happens even and especially in school. You get a D on your first test and it seems like a chasm has opened up that will take you to hell. Yes it is true: you didn't put in the effort, you could have done more, you studied poorly, you didn't care. Bottom line, of you will be talking about for ages.
Certainly, iour kids need to understand that commitment is important and that there are no shortcuts in life. That they must find their own motivation to create their own future. But it is not by avoiding mistakes that one will become great. It is not by not falling that we will become strong, it is not by not loving that we will not feel pain, and it is not by indifference that we will become proud of ourselves.
To err and persevere is not diabolical. It is the most human thing that can exist. It gives a sense of the commitment a person puts into what he or she does. Persevering in error (assuming you learn from that) tells me how much that person is able to handle stress, grow, and be flexible to try new solutions.
Persevering is the only way to achieve results and become strong.
As Confucius said: Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.
Making no mistake doesn't necessarily mean that you are strong, good, the best. Sooner or later we all make mistakes, and if we have been broken in life with the idea that to err is wrong, that day we make a mistake the world will come crashing down on us. You risk depression. Say what?? Am I exaggerating? If you are of my generation it will sound absurd but if you looked around you will see that the world is full of kids who quit after the first mistake. Who quit because they couldn't handle the pressure, who didn't have the perseverance to keep learning and gaining experience, who are too dependent on the instant gratification that social, satellite TV, Netflix and (no less important) google have accustomed us to.
A few years ago, I was at a meeting with a sports club. The team psychologist had invited parents and managers to discuss the engagement of children in sport. It turned out that many leave the activity when they were16. It almost seemed like a 'digital' threshold and, at the time, I thought the problem was related to the time dedicated to home works and schoool related stuff.
Today, perhaps mistakenly, I would say that the motivations behind boys' giving up have more banal but also more critical reasons. First of all, many of those boys, initiated into sport by their parents, mirror the dissatisfactions and aspirations of fathers and mothers who see in their children the revenge of life. Others, on the other hand, could not (and do not) withstand the pressure of performance, training schedules, defeat, the harshness of coaches and the envy between teammates. Deep down, in truth, there is the idea that everything must go well at the first attempt and that "sweating" to achieve something important is not option.
We see these things every day: we decide to do work out (for whatever reason) expecting results in a few days. Then, when this does not come, we stop persevering and we accept to fail.
Instead, we should continue to sweat, strive, try and try again to overcome our limitations. Make mistakes and learn. Keep working out, because limits are only in our minds and make mistakes in order to learn how to do better.
Everyone, from parents to teachers, from employers to heads of organisations, should encourage our youngsters to make conscious mistakes. But first of all, adults should understand that even in old age, in full wisdom, there is a world that opens up every time we try. There is a door that opens in every mistake and we should rediscover the enthusiasm to experiment, to be told NO and try again in another way. This is the only way to acquire mental elasticity and creativity: two things that keep us young and able to relate to young people who face a world in the midst of change. Change that happens within us every second, even when we believe that from a certain point on we are no longer capable of doing exceptional things.
The man I'm being inspired lately is David Goggins. His adventures go back a few years and his genuineness, resilience, physical and mental endurance, and reading of his attitude would inspire others too.
