Getting reassurance is so nice. Once you hear it a wave of calm washes over you immediately afterwards. You can relax now knowing you’re doing the right thing.
It usually takes the form of an inexperienced person asking an experienced person for guidance.
But what happens when an experienced peer is absent?
What if you’re doing something new and no one knows if you’re doing the right thing?
Christopher Columbus is famous for the lack of reassurance he received.
There was no guarantee that his journey would be successful and he had no one beside him to reassure him of his actions.
Columbus and all those who ventured into unknown territory somehow found another way to persevere whilst feeling a considerable amount of doubt.
Seth Godin has a great saying for such a circumstance:
“This might work, this might not work”
Acknowledging the possibility of failure, frees you up to view that doubt as reasonable and expected. There certainly is a chance you’re doing something wrong and that’s ok.
The need to be doing everything right all the time is paralysing and inhuman.
The saying:
“This might work, this might not work”
encourages forward motion rather then reassurance and procrastination and doesn’t that sound a lot healthier?
Thomas Duggan 