Running Away from Challenges
We become less competent the more we run away from or avoid challenges. Competence is like a muscle; it requires activity in to function. If you have never been to the gym and begin lifting weights, what do you think will happen? You put a lot of pressure on muscles that aren’t accustomed to it, and you will feel sore the next day. Your muscles will ache, and it will feel like they are screaming at you to never work out again.
Many people believe that if their body signals pain, it tells them to stop. This is a common mistake. When you listen to your body, you're listening to that part of yourself that is telling you to take it easy. You're buying into that message that your body doesn’t want to be stressed, confronted, and challenged. You will be tempted to do something that doesn’t involve discomfort, inconvenience, sacrifice or pain.
But if you want to make the pain go away, it is better to go to the gym again. Sure, it feels terrible the next day, but if you keep going, the pain evaporates. The pain is temporary and signals that you are building strength. It's a small price to pay for greater fitness.
The same applies to our mental competence. Opening our minds to new perspectives can be difficult in today’s world where we are all spoon-fed information that aligns with our current interests and beliefs. We can’t avoid exposing ourselves to new thoughts, ideas, and technologies because they are different or uncomfortable. This will limit our potential.
Unfortunately, many people think that they can coast on their current level of expertise. As a result, they run away from challenges and avoid the unknown, instead focusing their attention on things they believe are tried and proven. These are the people who actively resist change and shoot down different perspectives without listening. These are the individuals who fail to learn and to grow. These are the people that you may recognize as a “one trick pony”. These folks are particularly good in one niche but in time, the niche will change, and they will not. Unfortunately, the more they do this, the less competent they become because the value of their knowledge & skills erodes over time. In other words, they over-rely on their strengths and these strengths will end up being a liability.
When we limit our focus to our niche and existing expertise and knowledge, we will not improve. We will lose our curiosity to learn new ideas and techniques. We won’t challenge what we think we know. We won’t break things apart and try to put them together in a unique way. We won’t be able to connect the dots and see big patterns when things change around us. We will not be equipped to deal with the massive changes that surround us.
To avoid this, we need to continually push ourselves to learn and grow. This means questioning our thoughts and assumptions, exposing ourselves to different perspectives and ideas, and seeking new experiences. It also means being willing to be vulnerable. It is OK to say, “I don’t know, or I don’t understand” and to embrace the learning that comes from failures. In fact, failure is one of the best ways to learn. These are the things that allow us to build our expertise and authority for the long term.
Instead of running from or avoiding challenges, embrace them as an opportunity to learn.