“You make decisions, take actions, affect the world, receive feedback from the world, incorporate it into yourself, then the updated ‘you’ makes more decisions, and so forth, ’round and ’round.”

Douglas Hofstadter

Rather than think of yourself as a finished product it is easier and better to think of oneself as a “continually updating” application. Everything you see, do learn, experience becomes the next “X” in the 1.X version of yourself.

When you acquire a new degree, take on a new role or have a significant life change that is when you have a major system upgrade, the first number changes, and you go from “2.X to 3.0.” But in the meantime all that really matters is the next minor “.X” upgrade. These are the ones that build and create a new and better self so that when the time comes and you are “1.9” you are ready for the new 2.0 version.

Thinking of life in this way can change the way you perceive things. Instead of failures or setbacks you simply have opportunities to upgrade your operating system and build a better and stronger self.

As for myself I am at least on major Operating System (OS) # 25 and heck I probably moved up to 25.5 or 25.6 just from today’s experiences and feedback. The good news is that there are unlimited future versions available, you just have to choose to download the upgrade…