Brian Johnson argues that mistakes are essential for learning and growth. He weaves in Rumi, Maslow, and Michael Beckwith to show how humor and humility help us move past the fear of failure, and why expecting human perfection only leads to disappointment.
Chapters
You're listening to Optimize with Bryan Johnson. More Wisdom in Less Time this is a mini chapter from Brian's book A Philosopher's Notes. You can find it on Amazon. Mistakes Bagels, Perfection and Flying Michael Beckwith tells us that even enlightened beings burn their bagels on occasion. Rumi tells us that there is no worse pretense than the pretense of perfection. Maslow tells us that there are in fact, no perfect human beings. I often consult their wisdom when I find myself all up in my stuff because I just did something silly or when I'm struggling with something that was so clear just the other day. Here's some roomy goodness that's great for those days when you're giving yourself a hard time because you should have already figured it out. He says, quote, God turns you from one feeling to another and teaches by means of opposites so that you will have two wings to fly, not one. Here's some Beckwith cooking wisdom for when you're burning stuff. He says, a conscious realization of our innate oneness with the ineffable does not mean that we will never make a mistake again. Even enlightened beings burn their bagels once in a while. It's important to maintain a sense of humor, because this is how you will stop being afraid of making a mistake. You'll make some, but so what? That's why they're called Ms. Takes. Humor relaxes the uptight ego. You get a new cue from your inner self and simply say, I missed my cue, so let's do a second take. Your willingness to take the risk of making a mistake is actually an expression of courage and a willingness to grow from them. Mistakes are about getting the blessing in the lesson, and the lesson in the blessing isn't that mistake line genius? I love that. And Maslow seals the deal for me. He says, there are no perfect human beings. Persons can be found who are good, very good indeed, in fact great. There do in fact exist creators, seers, sages, saints, shakers and movers, even if they are uncommon and do not come by the dozen. And yet these very same people can at times be boring, irritating, petulant, selfish, angry or depressed. To avoid disillusionment with human nature, we must first give up our illusions about it. Powerful stuff. Little footnote the Beckwith quote is from Spiritual Liberation, Rumi is from Roomy Daylight, and Maslow is from Motivation and Personality. We've got philosopher's notes on all of those. We hope you enjoyed this mini chapter from Brian's book, A Philosopher's Notes Want more wisdom in less time delivered in your inbox? Sign up for Brian's free daily newsletter, the Optimizer, and get the full ebook and audiobook at brianjohnson Me APN.
