The Power Of Yet

This blog will be a short one.

It’s about a lesson that I learned from a good friend and mentor, Zak Gabor.

It’s for anyone feeling discouraged.

It’s about the power of yet.

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In my first two years out of graduate school and in the trenches (in the clinic), I’ve felt many different feelings and learned many valuable lessons. The one realization that continues to tap me on the shoulder is that I don’t know everything and that I don’t even know much. I often find myself with more questions than answers and as someone who is supposed to have answers (a healthcare provider), that creates an uncomfortable tension on the inside. However, I continue to come back to the following thought from the book (Mindset) that forever changed my perspective on growth.

“Becoming is better than being.”

Carol Dweck

In other words, that tension that I feel as a clinician (and also as a person) is created through the desire to be somewhere that I am not. It’s the feeling of growing and it’s how you know that you’re in the process of becoming. This framework helps me to put things in perspective, especially on the days that I feel insufficient or inadequate in the clinic (it happens to everyone, so let’s stop pretending that it doesn’t). This growth mindset is what allows me to keep my chin up when I’m faced with uncertain situations and outcomes (which is most of the time). This attitude is one that helps me understand and embrace the power of yet, both inside of the clinic and out.

“We like to think of our champions and idols as superheroes who were born different from us. We don’t like to think of them as relatively ordinary people who made themselves extraordinary.”

Carol Dweck

It’s encouraging to recognize that everyone who is extraordinary now, was once ordinary and that we (those extraordinary people included) are all still growing and harnessing the power of yet. Each time that we make the intentional decision to push on and embrace uncertain outcomes with confidence (in what we can control) and enthusiasm (about how we can make a difference), we lean into the power of yet. Every mistake, misstep and failure gives us new footing to move forward to get better. That’s what becoming is all about and in a nutshell, that is the power of of the one small word that we call yet. So, whether it’s in the clinic, in personal life or something else all-together, just remember this…

“The master has failed more times than the beginner has tried.”

Stephen McCranie

Whatever you can’t do, you just can’t do yet.

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In true Joe Rinaldi blog form, let me leave you with someone else’s wise words…

“Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. Failure is delay, not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead end. Failure is something we can avoid only by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing.”

Denis Waitley

Lean in to the power of yet.

Joe Rinaldi

IG: @joearinaldi

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