'I realize what I have to lose'
Learning sooner about what could be lost before we lose it
Do people always really, truly understand that they have something valuable to lose, what that specifically is and exactly all that could encompass? In some instances, yes yet not as often as they should, so not always. That’s a big blind spot and extremely dangerous state of mind in which to be operating, in the moment and down the road.
“I now realize what I have to lose,” a young well-known man in professional sports — Ja Morant — recently said in response to his ongoing pattern of poor decision-making, egregious actions and subsequent punishment by the executives of the parent company for which he is employed.
This article however is not specifically about him. It may be about you, me, people we care about, know about or just people in general: a situation closer to home and more relatable.
The truth is we can get lost in the wilderness of our thoughts, subconscious impulses and habits. If we surround ourselves with “yes” people or go it alone with no oversight or just don’t heed warnings of well-meaning people, whether they are close to us or strangers, or maybe even critics, we are significantly increasing the risk that our belief system and tendencies are going to cost us dearly, if not soon, then eventually.
It’s just a matter of time. In essence, we’re a ticking time bomb. Sooner or later that device is going to go, “BOOM!” We’ve seen, heard or read about what happens when bombs explode. We have also witnessed or possibly experienced what it’s like when bombs, the self-detonated ones, go off in people’s lives. It can be horrific, right?
Yet most of us are not without the capacity to gather ourselves, learn and course correct before we reach the point where the damage is so severe that it takes weeks, months, years or a lifetime to overcome.
Let’s come to be more self aware and socially perceptive to realize today what we have to lose, and make honorable corrections, so we don’t end up losing it.
Michael Toebe writes “Reputation Notes” and is the founder and specialist at Reputation Quality, a practice that serves and assists successful people and organizations in further building reputation as an asset and responsibly, ethically protecting, restoring or reconstructing it.
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