I’m forever looking for the things that professionals do
to keep themselves from performing at their optimal level. That’s part of my
geek streak. (Don’t snicker—you have your own that’s just as goofy.)

Here’s something that drags down some
professionals—hoarding.

I’m not talking about hoarding work or files or pens,
like the TV reality shows that showcase sick people who live in squalor because
they have too much stuff. I’m talking about when you hoard past failures as if
they were Holy Grail. You pack them in your mental file cabinet to remind yourself
that you shouldn’t do that again.

So whenever you approach a situation that resembles your
past failing, you take out the mental file and review it one more time,
experiencing the pain, embarrassment and frustration that you felt when it
first happened. You become so cautious that you end up underperforming again.

No wonder you’re so timid to retry something. Rather than
learning from a past failing, you avoid it or become paralyzed.

We tried that before and it didn’t work.

I’ll never put myself in that position again.

You can bet that’s the last time I rely on him.

And so the self-talk prattles on, making you all the more
entrenched in your little world, insulating yourself from failure. You limit your
own development and strangle possible opportunities.

This week, get past the past and enter the future with
fearless optimism. You won’t die or get fired. You’ll just get better. What are
you avoiding that you know you need to face? What do you need to try again?

Just do something, or you may find yourself pitied as the
main character of a reality TV show.