Adam Grant

I'm not like, all right, let me take on a project that is deliberately going to bomb. Rather, what I'm trying to do is set the expectation that if I don't have three projects fail, it means that I'm not aiming high enough and I'm not stretching myself far enough.

And the upside of that then is that when something does crash and burn, I can say, okay, that checks off one of the failures for 2024 or 2025. And I think that, look, we're all going to fail in a few things if we are pushing ourselves. And I think expecting that makes it a lot easier to stomach.

And the upside of that then is that when something does crash and burn, I can say, okay, that checks off one of the failures for 2024 or 2025. And I think that, look, we're all going to fail in a few things if we are pushing ourselves. And I think expecting that makes it a lot easier to stomach.

And the upside of that then is that when something does crash and burn, I can say, okay, that checks off one of the failures for 2024 or 2025. And I think that, look, we're all going to fail in a few things if we are pushing ourselves. And I think expecting that makes it a lot easier to stomach.

I think if at first you don't succeed, it's a sign that you're actually aiming high enough. And if you are consistently either hitting your goals or exceeding your expectations, it probably means you could be pushing yourself a little bit farther, or you could be at least trying something that's a little bit less familiar and easy for you.

I think if at first you don't succeed, it's a sign that you're actually aiming high enough. And if you are consistently either hitting your goals or exceeding your expectations, it probably means you could be pushing yourself a little bit farther, or you could be at least trying something that's a little bit less familiar and easy for you.

I think if at first you don't succeed, it's a sign that you're actually aiming high enough. And if you are consistently either hitting your goals or exceeding your expectations, it probably means you could be pushing yourself a little bit farther, or you could be at least trying something that's a little bit less familiar and easy for you.

Yeah, I think you've already anticipated where my favorite research on this goes. So this is Dan Gilbert and his colleagues, a group of psychologists, Gilbert and Wilson, I think are two of the best. What they show is they study what's called affective forecasting. which is you make a prediction about how you're going to feel if something bad happens.

Yeah, I think you've already anticipated where my favorite research on this goes. So this is Dan Gilbert and his colleagues, a group of psychologists, Gilbert and Wilson, I think are two of the best. What they show is they study what's called affective forecasting. which is you make a prediction about how you're going to feel if something bad happens.

Yeah, I think you've already anticipated where my favorite research on this goes. So this is Dan Gilbert and his colleagues, a group of psychologists, Gilbert and Wilson, I think are two of the best. What they show is they study what's called affective forecasting. which is you make a prediction about how you're going to feel if something bad happens.

And then you wait for some of those bad things to happen. And then you follow people and ask them, how do you actually feel? And most of us dramatically overestimate how much failure is going to sting and also how long that sting is going to last. So one of the places where Dan and his colleagues studied this was with professors who are about to go up for tenure.

And then you wait for some of those bad things to happen. And then you follow people and ask them, how do you actually feel? And most of us dramatically overestimate how much failure is going to sting and also how long that sting is going to last. So one of the places where Dan and his colleagues studied this was with professors who are about to go up for tenure.

And then you wait for some of those bad things to happen. And then you follow people and ask them, how do you actually feel? And most of us dramatically overestimate how much failure is going to sting and also how long that sting is going to last. So one of the places where Dan and his colleagues studied this was with professors who are about to go up for tenure.

And this is the ultimate gauntlet as an academic. If you succeed, you get to keep your job and you also have lifetime job security. If you fail, you probably have to move Your reputation is in tatters and you feel like you just couldn't cut it in your field and maybe you should choose an entirely different career. And now you don't know if you'll ever have that permanent job security.

And this is the ultimate gauntlet as an academic. If you succeed, you get to keep your job and you also have lifetime job security. If you fail, you probably have to move Your reputation is in tatters and you feel like you just couldn't cut it in your field and maybe you should choose an entirely different career. And now you don't know if you'll ever have that permanent job security.

And this is the ultimate gauntlet as an academic. If you succeed, you get to keep your job and you also have lifetime job security. If you fail, you probably have to move Your reputation is in tatters and you feel like you just couldn't cut it in your field and maybe you should choose an entirely different career. And now you don't know if you'll ever have that permanent job security.

So not surprisingly, people think on average, it's going to take five years for them to recover from that blow. But within six months, most people have bounced back. And I think this is a general finding in research on resilience more broadly. George Bonanno and his colleagues have shown that the default response to adversity is not PTSD. It's not chronic stress. It's actually resilience.

So not surprisingly, people think on average, it's going to take five years for them to recover from that blow. But within six months, most people have bounced back. And I think this is a general finding in research on resilience more broadly. George Bonanno and his colleagues have shown that the default response to adversity is not PTSD. It's not chronic stress. It's actually resilience.

So not surprisingly, people think on average, it's going to take five years for them to recover from that blow. But within six months, most people have bounced back. And I think this is a general finding in research on resilience more broadly. George Bonanno and his colleagues have shown that the default response to adversity is not PTSD. It's not chronic stress. It's actually resilience.

That most people take most setbacks in stride because we have what's called a psychological immune system. Just like a physical immune system, our minds generate antibodies to help us make sense, find meaning, and move forward. And that doesn't mean these things don't hurt. But it also means that we're less broken by our own mistakes and setbacks than we think we are.