In our last +1, we talked about Phil Stutz’ great phrase: “Endlessly evolving process.” Phil likes to draw upward spiraling loops to describe the flow of evolving into the best version of ourselves. In fact, his spiraling loops are almost identical to Ray Dalio’s spiraling loops. Remember his? We unpacked his 5-Steps to Success model not too long ago. The super-quick recap: You start with an audacious goal. Then you fail. Then you figure out why you failed. Then you design a better solution to your challenge. Then you get to work on the solution. Then you spiral up and repeat that process of evolving into a slightly better version of you. (For how long? E N D L E S S L Y.) Now, Dalio tells us that it’s REALLY important to fall in love with that process. ESPECIALLY (!) the part most people shy away from — that whole failing part. “But can’t I just evolve without all those mistakes?” (Insert laughter from all philosophers ever.) (Still laughing.) “No. You can’t.” Therefore, the wisest among us (with Dalio in the lead on this one) tell us that we want to so fall in love with the process of making mistakes and then getting a little better that we’re kinda like a runner who hits a certain point during his or her run where the pain goes away and the “runner’s high” takes over. Dalio calls this the “mistake-learner’s high.” You’re so engaged in the dynamic process of Optimizing that you L O V E the mistakes — knowing that they’re just part of the process of going after something audacious and the perfect data/fuel to Optimize just a little more today. And, we all know that it’s all about aggregating and compounding those tiny little gains over an extended period of time, right? So… Today’s +1. Made any mistakes lately? Can you see how those mistakes are an ESSENTIAL part of your (endlessly evolving) process of achieving your audacious goals?! Fantastic. Keep that in mind today. And tomorrow. And the day after that. Enjoy your mistake-learner’s high!
