The REAL Meaning of Get Over Yourself

18 Dec The REAL Meaning of Get Over Yourself

There I was, sitting by myself at a Barnes and Noble book signing for nearly two hours.

For one hour and fifty-four minutes, not a single person approached me to buy a book. To make matters worse, I just had a little spat with my wife and told her not to bother coming with my kids. In that moment, I felt alone, humiliated, and frankly miserable. Here I was, a “New York Times bestselling author” without a single person who wanted to buy my book.

The good news is that all that time alone gave me an opportunity to think and reflect. Get Over Yourself is about delegation, but I think there’s a much more important meaning to new words. It’s about learning to be more humble. It’s about learning that life doesn’t revolve around you. It’s about not sweating the small stuff.

I am delighted that my son is studying grit and growth mindset in his fourth-grade class. He came home the other day with an assignment to interview people about their failures and what they learned from them. I was honored that he chose to interview me. In sharing my insights with my son, it was a great reminder that there are lots of lessons and opportunities in every single failure.

Reflecting back on my hour and fifty-four minutes sitting alone at that bookstore signing, I realized I’ve learned a lot about the real meaning of Get Over Yourself. I have so very much to be grateful for, and my whining and pouting about not a lot of people visiting me at a bookstore signing–well,

I needed to get over myself!

By the way, two people did come in the last five minutes. Maybe they felt sorry for me, or maybe they were genuinely interested. One was a man whose wife is starting a nail salon, and he picked up a copy for her. The other was a self-proclaimed “lifelong entrepreneur” who said he has trouble delegating. I hope they both find value in the book. And the truth is, if I impacted even one life with those two hours, most of which were solitary, well then, I’d say it was worth it.

Here’s to us all getting over ourselves, developing more grit, and using the growth mindset to learn from every potential setback.

In every perceived failure there is opportunity to growth. Sometimes it’s hardest to see it when right in the moment, but eventually we can find that growth.

And that growth is ALWAYS worth the courage to risk failure.