Wednesday, October 21, 2015

The Rise: The Blind Spot

[The Rise]

"...we make breakthroughs in part because we are free enough to acknowledge when we have fallen short of our stated goals" (114) Sarah Lewis 

In "The Blind Spot" chapter of The Rise, Lewis continues aspects of failure and what we can learn and gain from rethinking how we view unsuccessful attempts. What's an idea that you found useful from the chapter? How so? Please provide page numbers.

18 comments:

Jacqueline C. said...

An idea I found useful in this chapter compared being beaten to becoming stronger on page 111. The quote went as follows, "There is a difference between being beaten and being strengthened, for as it happens, it is hard to perceive. " People go through challenges in life and don't realize that certain situations are making them stronger because they feel drained physically, mentally, emotionally. Going through obstacles shows what a person can take and does build them up.

Alexandra J said...

There were many ideas I really liked in this chapter. Specifically, the opening chapter page quote stood out to me and a quote on page 110. It says, " The light that begins and ends these uncommon journeys requires a similar sensitivity to their sheen." In life, there are so many hidden meanings to certain things that we don't see the value of until we can look back and think of how far you have come. It is easy to get knocked down and say that you aren't supposed to do a certain thing or succeed, but when you overcome it and look back on that time you struggled you realize that struggle is what got you to that point. These obstacles don't actually break us, they tend to build us and shed light on bigger and better things yet to come.

Kiana S said...

I think the quote that has stood out the most to me was on page 114. "Success means something is wrong, Brodhead said. 'It means that we're either choosing very simple issues, or we're deluding ourselves about our results.'" This quote really intrigues me for the simple fact that this is a totally new outlook on success. I don't exactly agree with putting success in a negative light, but it is an interesting point of view.

Unknown said...

I think the quote that really connected with me was the quote on pg 114. It states, " We make breakthroughs in part because we are free enough to acknowledge when we have fallen short of our stated goals. " I found this quote interesting because it really does sum up why people continue in their endeavors even after they have failed so many times. Its because we know there is a light at the tunnel. We just have to keep keep pushing forward. Breakthroughs come after we have tweaked and changed our plans on getting to said goal until something starts to work or we see progress. I believe that failure allows us to see other routes to our ultimate goal.

Unknown said...

What stood out to me the most from this chapter was when Sarah Blakely the entrepreneur said that her father would ask them " what did you fail in today?" (P. 111) I have a child myself and I think this would be great to use with her. Celebrate your failure and accomplishments. Some people in life fail and that's just it. We can not all be perfect and it lets people know that it is ok to fail. Failure to me does not mean a bad thing. Failure allows me another chance to do better.

Mercedes H said...

The quote, "the problem is that when you do the fake-it-until-you-make-it strategy when you're failing, it will crush you" (p. 113) makes a bold statement. I found this quote significant because failure is inevitable and not facing it is such a cowardly thing to do. Faking a situation just to make it through would make the situation even worse. We all have to push through and learn from our experiences and fake-it-until-you-make-it will not result in a lesson learned. In the end, the result should be failure leading to success.

Jenee B. said...

The idea that stood out to me was when the author was sharing Laura Pooley's story and wrote, " She attributes the conversion, in large part, to her father's childhood reconditioning about failure and its definition. Failure became not the outcome, but the refused attempt" (pg.111). I found it interesting to think about someone becoming reconditioned to view and react to failure in a new way. I also like the idea that deeply examining failures could ultimately help someone to find success and that someone should not see failure as the end, but a fresh start.

Unknown said...

I never thought about how useful failures could be until now. When the author wrote about Blakely on page 111, I looked at failure in a more positive way (despite the norm connotations). In the past, I've looked at failures at something that I should be ashamed of talking about, but also something that can be learned from. However, I like how Blakely focused solely on failures to better herself and company. Her father and she changed the definition of failure. The author quotes, "Success means something is wrong...it means that we're either choosing very simple issues, or we're deluding ourselves about our results (114). Redefining failure motivates those to challenge ourselves and to also be humble. I love that this concept shows humility as well.

-Belainesh N.

Kayleigh E. said...

What stood out to me the most in this chapter was on page 111. Sara Blakely describes how she become successful because of how her father taught her to view failures. He would ask her and her brother at dinner what failures they had that day. Then he would praise them. He taught his children young that it is ok to fail and that you can learn from your failures. If every parent did that with their children, I could only imagine the changes it would bring to our society.

Georgy N said...

The quote that caught my eye is on page 111,. "Failure became not the outcome, but the refused attempt." To me this means that failure is not the opposite of success. To truly fail is to not try or put forth any effort. When someone does not succeed at something, it is a chance to improve their knowledge and methods on the subject. It is a push to try harder

Unknown said...

I found the reflection on the fight between Ali and Foreman to be quite powerful. She states, "Yet no one but the fighters in the ring could sense it- there is a difference between being beaten and being strengthened, for as it happens, it is hard to perceive." I admire this statement because of the point of view. A lot of times we feel the pressure or the loss of a failure, but we miss the opportunity to gain the strengths until later after this moment is over. In this particular case, even though Ali was being worn down, it was completely to his benefit and he knew how to overcome that. It reiterates the ethic of not getting caught behind the 8ball twice.

Kiara G. said...

The quote that I found the most interesting was, " there is a difference between being beaten and being strengthened, for as it happens, it is hard to perceive" (pg 111). I found this to be a good quote because it is true that you never see the good in things as they are happening. Not until the act has occurred and you can reflect on what has happened can you truly see the affects of the occurrence.

Ajeenah Johnson-Brown said...

Something that really stuck out to me was the author talking about how our obstacles and challenges strengthen us. She mentions how we often feel beat down and drained , but without these feelings we would not know how much we can stand. It kind of reminds me of the common saying, "God would not put you through more than you can handle". The author also says we often miss our opportunity to recognize our gains. We get so focused in our stress and situation we do not learn from it.

Jessica Oranika said...

The idea that stood out to me the most was on page 11 where Lewis says "failure became not the outcome, but the refused attempt." It was interesting how Blakely's father got his children to redefine the way they looked at failing. He got them to see it in a positive and optimistic light which helped them to become sucessful in the future.

Quincy S said...

The concept that stood out the most to me in this chapter was the new perspective of failure being a success. On page 111, Lewis describes an anecdote from entrepreneur Sara Blakely's childhood. Blakely's father altered the way his children viewed failed attempts by asking them, "What did you fail at today?". By reconditioning the definition of failure to her, Blakely, was influenced to see her failures as motivation and not an outcome. Blakely's story is a powerful account, as it inspires readers to push past their failed attempts.

Sierra E said...

In general, this chapter reminded me to give myself evaluations. Yes, celebrate and share the victories, but also take inventory of my failures and shortcomings. I am aware that growth and refinement come from failed attempts, but I rarely attribute my successes to the failures that came before it. I liked the section where the father asked his children about their failures. Making our downfalls a natural part of ourselves is a good thing. We don't take them so harshly and we learn to identify the good in even those weak places.

Unknown said...

I thought the idea of how in one story a woman remembers her dad asking about their failures each day just as a normal parent would ask about their child's successes. I think this an interesting idea because it causes us to think about what went wrong instead of completely discounting it. By assessing our shortcomings, we will be able to grow & turn them in to achievements. (111)

Unknown said...

An useful idea would be the correlation between success and failure. While most want success in life, failure is an often rejected idea. But in reality failure should not be considered a stopping point but instead just "unintended outcomes" (Lewis 113). Failure is not negative but instead expands you abilities so next time will be a "success".