You’re driving your car on a nice evening. Rounding a corner, the low light of the late day glares straight into your eyes. In that moment, you realize how dirty your windshield is. How had you not noticed that before? That dirt is so clearly visible!
Automatically, you trigger your wiper fluid and blind youself. Cursing, you resolve not to be so foolish again. But it happens, again and again.
Underlying principle #1: The cue that reveals a problem can be created by a high-demand environment, and that same environment makes immediate correction the wrong move.
Underlying principle #2: Our inability to tolerate momentary imperfection leads us into deeper imperfection as we try to extinguish our discomfort.
The antidote:
“Is this really so bad?”
“What is making this looks so bad right now?”
“Do I need to fix this, or just learn to be comfortable with it?
“When is the best time to fix this?”