Stumbling is Part of the Game
Just another day trying to walk.
(671 words, 3-minute read)
I stumble a lot.
When I do stumble, I typically end up on the ground. I don’t know about you, but I want to get up and pretend it didn’t happen as quickly as possible. But I usually do the opposite. I roll over on my side or back and run through a systems check.
1. Micro vision – So close you can analyze each detail - Breathe a sigh of relief – It’s over!
2. Macro vision – A stand-back perspective to see the whole picture - Assess the damage – Can I move?
3. Context – How does this fit into the surrounding environment - What are the long-term consequences? – bruising, scrapes, or major injuries.
Now granted, this might happen within seconds, especially if other people are staring at me. But there are still three very distinct phases of thought before I try to move, get up, and continue.
In the design world, these three points of view are in constant rotation while solving a problem. With computers, the designer can zoom in and out of these three states in a blink of an eye. Sometimes, it is so fast that it can make you nauseous. It takes time to get your bearings in the situation, just like laying on the ground staring up at the sky after a fall. The good news is you don’t need a fancy degree or years of experience to hone this ability to analyze these three viewpoints. We were all born with it.
Let’s call it our gut reaction.
The trick is to slow the knee-jerk response down so you can observe all three segments as a curious spectator instead of an overreactive two-year-old. Slowing things down is a practiced skill, but it can be mastered. I am writing about this investigative practice because I stumbled on the eve of my first book release.
Stumbled!
Hell, I did a full-on face-plant into obstacles I didn’t know existed. (Well, maybe I did, and I just ignored them.) I had phrases like “failure” and “being wrong” hurled at me from complete strangers about the book. Words that poked at deep-seated wounds from the past.
Simply stated, the obstacle was fear. And not just one fear, but a whole gaggle of fears and unproductive behaviors, like trying to fit in, not being good enough, not being ready, and being people-pleasing. In the days afterward, my emotions oscillated between anger and self-pity. But I hadn’t gone this far in the journey to stop now, even though I asked if that was an option.
I promptly gave myself a “hell no!”
I admit, I was thrown off my game, off my master plan. And I did my share of pouting, but I knew that wouldn’t solve the problem. Instead, I forced myself to slow down, run through my different points of view, and look for a solution that satisfied me and no one else. I had to push beyond the fears and do it anyway.
Stumbling is part of the game. It’s not a fun part, but an important one. It doesn’t matter if the task in front of you has been in your routine for years or if you are trying something new; there is always a chance for unachieved expectations. The outside world calls that failure.
But failure by who’s measuring stick?
In this case, the dream/goal seems to become an overnight success and skyrocket onto the New York Times Bestseller list. Okay, that would be nice, but really, what is the chance of that? Do I want my book to sell? Of course, I do. But the goal of Bat Crap Crazy was to get it published.
Done!
Now, it is time to move on to the next project with new and renewed lessons in hand. I have to look at stumbling and falling as good things. I have to be confident, knowing it will give me a new perspective on a situation…But just the same, metaphorically, yes – but physically, not so much.
