Why it’s hard to improve when things are going well

When I fail, it hurts. I have a serious look at which actions I took and their consequences. And that tends to help me refine my actions. But I don’t do this when things are going well. During those times, I tend to withdraw into the things that I know that I can do. I fall into a comfortable routine that produces known results.

To understand why this happens, first we need to understand it’s easier to improve after a failure. When that happens, I’m unhappy with my results. And they happened. I can’t deny the consequences that I have experienced. Unhappy enough to justify self examination. Because self examination is a painful process. It requires one to look inwards and question not just your actions, but also your beliefs about yourself. Are you really capable? Did one of your actions cause your own failures? Or are you helpless to affect your circumstances? Once you see the problem in your thoughts or actions, it will nag at you until it’s fixed.

So when things are going well, I tend to avoid looking into my thoughts and actions. I have the results that I want, so maybe I’m doing everything correctly. The best, and easiest way to change this is to put yourself in a situation beyond what you think you can accomplish. Instead of smooth sailing, you’ll find storms.

Even if I reflect, if I haven’t failed recently, it can be hard to find a way to improve. Because when I fail, I assume that I made mistakes. And when I’ve been successful, I assume that I did everything right. So whenever you examine your actions, assume that you made mistakes. Assume that you can improve in some way.