Betting on oneself.
It’s become a cliche.
Whenever we expose ourselves to the uncertainty of change, we roll out that familiar rhetoric like a red carpet..
Sure, it’s a risk. But I’m betting on myself.
It’s as if our self-certainty is our superpower. As if it’s the constant that makes the changes we encounter adapt to us.
By counting on ourselves in the face of change, we feel we can overcome adversity.
Nothing can stop us. We can walk out on the tightrope without a safety net and make it through.
There are good reasons why this narrative has wings. It’s inspirational, dramatic and ultimately satisfying.
But there’s one big problem.
It’s not accurate.
You see, we can’t meet the challenge of new and disruptive change simply by betting on ourselves and plowing forward.
We need to level up.
Charting our way through new challenges requires a new set of skills. Mere survival demands growth and adaptation.
What was working before has no jurisdiction over future success. The landscape is too unfamiliar. The obstacles ahead are too imposing.
There must be an upward shift.
I have seen this time and again through my own experience.
I went from sitting in my college classes under the palm trees of South Florida to running a TV newsroom in the desert of West Texas in a matter of months.
When my news industry days had played themselves out, I moved to Dallas and switched careers. All with only a modest savings, a credit card and an abundance of hope to steer me through.
Several years later, I committed to hitting the books once again — starting business school while still maintaining my full-time job.
These were all significant left turns in my life trajectory. Business as usual no longer applied.
I had to make significant changes to meet the challenges that lay in front of me.
I had to level up.
Now, this process wasn’t always apparent to me when I was going through it. The path ahead was more of a gradual incline than a rugged cliff face.
And besides, I was so focused more on the six inches in front of my nose that I was oblivious to my steady climb. Only when I had a moment to look back did I realize I’d gained elevation.
But regardless of when I came to recognize it, that upward shift had occurred. I’d done was needed to not only survive, but also thrive.
There had been a transformation of perspective. My skillset for navigating life’s experiences had become broader and more multifaceted.
But I hadn’t gotten to this point solely by betting on myself. No, I’d molded myself into a person equal to the task of what lay before me.
I’m far from unique in this experience. Plenty of us have upped our game to meet the heightened stakes in our path.
Yet, for whatever reason, we are loathe to credit the upward shift. Whether due to ego or pride, we indulge our self-importance. We brush aside the twists and turns we endure along the path to something greater.
But those lessons, those adaptations — they’re what make us stronger. They’re what make us smarter. They’re what prime us for success.
We should take the time to recognize the change that lies ahead of us. We should embrace the learning opportunities embedded in our next moment of ambiguity.
For only when we consciously commit to leveling up do we unleash the full potential of our growth. It’s only then that we leverage the true benefit of new experiences.
So, embrace the upward shift. What lies within it make it worthwhile.