The Art of Course-Correcting

The Art of Course-Correcting

Course-Correcting: Do you beat yourself up for not being perfect? Or do you overthink again and again how you could’ve handled something differently? Or maybe, you lie awake at night and think about something that happened years ago and it still makes you cringe?

Hi, I’m Jana Hennemann with We&Co, and today we are talking about how to course-correct.

Course-correction is what some people call “failing forward.” Which is fine – personally, I prefer to call them “learning experiences.” It’s a personal preference.

So what is course-correction? How can I learn something without beating myself up? And what does it take to be nice to myself?

Did you know on our first trip to the moon, NASA was only on course 3-4% of the time? The rest of the time, we were course-correcting. That’s 96-97% of the time, we were, technically, FAILING.

Again, I don’t like the term failing – perhaps it is due to the fact that I have negative connotations to the word “failing.”

But I digress! How do we “course correct” without beating the crap out of ourselves?

1. Quit trying to be “important” or “smart” or “useful.”

I remember once going to see a mentor of mind in Malaysia. At the time, my daughter was between my and her father’s home.

Every time she would come over she wanted a cookie.

2. Respond-ability vs reaction.

You can approach things several different ways, but I like to see them as responding, or reacting.

You can either respond to life, or react to it.

Think of it this way: there is dharma and karma – 2 energies. Karma is something you can’t help. For example, I can’t help that I was born in California, to John and Karyl Moreno, as a girl. I can’t help that. Karma is a downward energy or emotion.

Dharma, however, is a creative energy. One that moves upward. Despite how I was born and what I am working with, I can still create what I want to experience in this world.

I can react – whine and moan about how I was born in that area in those circumstances, in that period of time. Or, I can decide what I want to experience and start taking actions to experience that.

Karma – downward energy. Dharma, upward creative energy.

3. Embrace the suck.

Abraham Lincoln once said, “The best way to destroy my enemies is to make them my friends.”

Sure, I can fight them. But to altogether “destroy” them, is to get them to be on my side.

Story about Mia watching an Japanese Anime with everyone wanting to destroy the “Devil.”

So what are you resisting? If the adage is true, “What you resist, persists,” then why resist anything?

What is your biggest struggle? What challenges are you facing? Have you considered embracing them? Making them your friend? Throwing your arms around them and giving them a hug?

I know, it’s easier said than done. But I am a firm believer that if you sit with a question long enough, the answer comes effortlessly.

4. NOTHING is a “failure.”

Story of being a baby learning how to walk.

You don’t tell the baby “You idiot! Just walk already!”

The point is this: don’t beat yourself up. Would you punish your kid for not learning how to walk on their first try? Or would you punish your parents for not understanding technology?

If you wouldn’t punish them for “learning,” don’t punish yourself! Be nice!

Something I say to my husband when he is being hard on himself is “Hey! Don’t say that to my husband – I’ll kick your ass!”

I’m joking, of course, I’ve never actually kicked his ass. But if anyone around us talked to him like he talks to himself sometimes, I wouldn’t stand for it!

I’d totally sit down – I kid. The point is this – we got to bat for the people we love. But we are sometimes our own worst enemies. However, I STILL won’t allow anyone, including my husband to himself, talk crap about him.

The point is this – we are all still figuring it out. None of us have all the answers, and when we think we do, Karma comes in and changes the damn environment. Then we have to relearn everything again!

In summary, course-correcting has a lot to do with forgiving yourself for not getting it right the first time.

It has a lot to do with embracing your blunders and mishaps, and embracing the process or “the suck.” It’s not a suck – it’s fun! I love learning new things! Even when I look like an idiot doing it.

I’m Jana Hennemann, challenging you to be nice to yourself. Challenging you to change the narrative in your mind from “failure” to “course-correction.”

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