Have no excuses
From Replacing Guilt, “Have no excuses”:
- Resolve to refuse to excuse your own failures in the even that you do fail, even if it was understandable.
- Don’t try to excuse bad luck; think of it more like it was a bet worth taking ( [[The Scout Mindset, Galef]]N). The difference is it means you own the choice.
- Admitting failure is and feeling pressure on yourself is “precisely the impetus to learn and adapt”.
- “Stop generating reasons why you never could have won, and play to win”.
- It can be wrong socially because admitting you’re wrong makes people confront the fact that they are wrong – “unspoken pact of mediocrity”.
Nice quote from [[Bonds That Make Us Free]]?:
Except in a very few [tennis] matches, usually with world-class performers, there is a point in every match (and in some cases it’s right at the beginning) when the loser decides he’s going to lose. And after that, everything he does will be aimed at providing an explanation of why he will have lost. He may throw himself at the ball (so he will be able to say he’s done his best against a superior opponent). He may dispute calls (so he will be able to say he’s been robbed). He may swear at himself and throw his racket (so he can say it was apparent all along he wasn’t in top form). His energies go not into winning but into producing an explanation, an excuse, a justification for losing.
Flashcards
Why should you have no excuses?
Because you’re more likely to learn and adapt when you attribute shortcomings to yourself.
How could you re-frame using bad luck as an excuse for failure?
Thinking that you could plan ahead of time.
What is the “unspoken pact of mediocrity”?
Where the social consensus is to not try too hard because it makes other members of the group feel bad.