What’s our natural tendency when things go wrong?
What happens when someone says something we don’t like?
What happens when we’re looking for something but can’t find it?
We obsess over mistakes, seethe and complain to anyone who’s willing to listen to how hurt we are, or turn the place complete upside down because we just can’t LET IT GO!
The first rule of holes is – when you find yourself in one, stop digging.
This however might be the most violated piece of commonsense wisdom in the world, says Ryan Holiday.
Tony Robbins cautions – see things as they are not WORSE than they are.
Like anything else, the first step is always awareness. Recognize that you’re in a hole.
- If you have an unhappy client that is constantly complaining, and nothing you do is ever satisfactory, then you’re in a hole.
- If you’re losing money on a project and you haven’t yet reached the end, you’re in a hole.
- If you’ve been trying to make a relationship “work” for a while but the more you work at it, the more it stays the same. Guess what? You’re in a hole.
The “Law of Holes” adage first appeared in the Washington Post dating back to 1911.
“Nor would a wise man, seeing that he was in a hole, go to work and blindly dig it deeper…”
This old proverb can be applied to business, economics, gambling, friendships and love. The philosophy is a simple way of learning to let go.
In the Daily Stoic, Ryan Holiday advises:
Today give yourself the most simple and doable tasks: just don’t make stuff worse. Whatever happens, don’t add angry or negative emotions to the equation. Don’t react for the sake of reacting. Leave it as is.
Your expertise is your business! 