Crippled CEO Blog #158: Stop Being So Smart

Crippled CEO Blog #158:

“Maybe this time I can be strong

But since I know who I am

I’m probably wrong

Maybe this time I can go far

Thinking about where I’ve been

Ain’t helping me start”

• Michael Kiwanuka, Cold Little Heart 

Those of us with high IQs (I will ever so humbly include myself in this) can get ourselves into trouble by being “logical” or “realistic”. 

We go through our memory and assess the evidence, telling ourselves we are just looking at the facts, and then using that evidence, telling ourselves we are unswayed by emotion, we come to the conclusion:

I can’t do this. If I try it, I will fail. So, I shouldn’t even try. 

And then we tell ourselves, and others, that it sounds harsh, but we are just being… “realistic”. We are “self aware”. We know better.

Look at all of the times we have totally blown it. We screw up so badly, so often. There’s no way this will work. 

And this does sound smart and logical, in a Spock like way, doesn’t? It feels like you should agree with somebody, and respect them, for being able to make the cold, hard call.

The problem with this is… it’s malarkey. 

Our past doesn’t have to dictate our future.

Failing before does not mean we will fail in the future.

In fact, those past failures, instead of foreshadowing the future result, might actually be the learning experiences that will be the reason for your success this time. Losing those battles might be just what you needed to win the war.

You think you’re so smart because you have it all figured out. But the even smarter person knows that anything could happen, and with each attempt, we get better than we were before. 

“I have not failed 10,000 times—I’ve successfully found 10,000 ways that will not work.” – Thomas Edison

(Do you know who kept trying until she figured it out last night? Your mom. Your mom. Your mom also gets a text from me every Sunday with a link to the latest blog post. Send a text to 561-726-1567 with the word CRIP as the message to get a link to the blog as soon as it’s up.

Did you know that I have a YouTube channel now? I do! I am putting up two videos every single week. Go search for Crippled CEO and you’ll find me. I would appreciate it if you subscribed.)