Sometimes there is very little that separates success and failure. Often it’s just one thing.
When it comes to computers, they can give us daily lessons in dealing with our fear of failure. Recently, I was setting several laptops and printers for some volunteers. ?The laptops use older software that can make hooking up the printers a little tricky. Some troubleshooting is often required.
Things were going well but then one of the setups would not work. ?I tried to print a test page but nothing happened. ?I then reinstalled the printer, restarted the computer, and tried again. Nothing printed.
Now I’m starting to feel some pressure. ?I’m frustrated with the machines, know that I’m slowing down a volunteer, and can’t think of the answer. ?In the back of my mind, I’m also hearing some thoughts of self-doubt start to emerge. ?I can tell that the situation is spiraling out of control.
I then decide to stand up for a second and collect my thoughts. ?It’s at that moment that I realized that I had not connected the printer cable to the laptop. ?I quickly did this and seconds later the system was fully operational.
In this case, one little detail separated success from failure. ?When you are challenged by a situation, it can be easy to listen to the negative voices in your mind and let your self-doubt run wild. ?But you also have an opportunity to consider your competency, take a step back, and take a different approach to the problem.
Don’t give something as small as a printer cable have that much control over your life. ?Frustrating moments aren’t going away anytime soon but how you handle them can change.
Click on the link to hear an audio version of this post:?Podcast – One thing can separate success from failure.
