Avoid having your ego so close to your position that when your position falls, your ego goes with it.
Interpretation
One should not tie their self-worth to their job or status, as loss can lead to significant emotional distress.
Colin Powell's quote emphasizes the importance of separating one's ego from their professional role or achievements. It serves as a reminder that our identity should not be solely defined by our work or status, as overattachment can lead to despair when faced with failures or changes in circumstances. Maintaining a healthy distance between self-worth and external positions allows for resilience in the face of setbacks.
In practice
During a leadership workshop discussing the importance of resilience in business.
Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier. I am talking about a gung-ho attitude that says 'we can change things here, we can achieve awesome goals, we can be the best. 'Spare me the grim litany of the 'realist;' give me the unrealistic aspirations of the optimist any day.
One of the fondest expressions around is that we can't be the world's policeman. But guess who gets called when suddenly someone needs a cop.
Success is the result of perfection, hard work, learning from failure, loyalty, and persistence.
If you get the dirty end of the stick, sharpen it and turn it into a useful tool.
High-quality early-childhood programs and health coverage have expanded, and the number of mentoring relationships for at-risk youth has risen dramatically. That progress is encouraging, but it's not evenly distributed.
As I've thought about gay marriage, I don't see any reason not to say that [couples] should be able to get married.
Let honesty be as the breath of thy soul; then shalt thou reach the point of happiness, and independence shall be thy shield and buckler, thy helmet and crown; then shall thy soul walk upright, nor stoop to the silken wretch because he hath riches, nor pocket an abuse because the hand which offers it wears a ring set with diamonds.
I sometimes find, and I am sure you know the feeling, that I simply have too many thoughts and memories crammed into my mind. βAt these times, I use the Pensieve. One simply siphons the excess thoughts from oneβs mind, pours them into the basin, and examines them at oneβs leisure. It becomes easier to spot patterns and links, you understand, when they are in this form.
All uncertainty is fruitfull ... so long as it is accompanied by the wish to understand
Atticus told me to delete the adjectives and I'd have the facts.
Mediocrity is no answer to violence. In fact, it probably invites violence. At least the mediocre and the violent appear together as in the old Western movies - the ruffian outlaw band shooting up main street and the little white church with the little white schoolteacher wringing her hands. To cool violence you need rhythm, humor, tempering; you need dance and rhetoric. Not therapeutic understanding.
A wise man should so write (though in words understood by all men) that wise men only should be able to commend him.
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