Well, That Was Bad
I bungled a presentation in front of the senior leadership that I sweated over and ultimately got wrong. It affected my work over the next week and threw me into a depression.
Lesson: Always know the game rules before playing.
True story. I tried to pitch something that was a slam dunk and realized I wasn’t prepared for the moment. That initiative took two more years and I failed to show my potential.
When we learn lessons, they often come with some experience. Sometimes it’s awful, but you get to take the lesson with you.
Don’t make the mistake of taking the experience with you.
If you aren’t careful, you risk becoming the experience instead of becoming yourself.
Your self is dynamic, resilient, antifragile.
Your experience is static, spiritless, fragile.
This is a major difference between being a leader and being bitter. The leader just takes the lesson.