Be a collector of the NOs you have received in life

A collector is someone who collects, classifies, and keeps something essentially out of interest or taste. In that sense, it may seem strange to collect the NOs received in life, but doing so has a huge strategic advantage.

There are very important teachings behind every NO that is presented in the personal or professional journey on this earth. Lessons that never provide success or goals achieved. The most valuable experiences are not found in YES, but rather in denials, no matter how frustrating or painful they may be.

It is well known that problems, difficulties, and adversities are great teachers. The reality is that each of these represents a NO to desires, expectations, interests, and approaches. Things happen the way you want them or not. It’s a simple dichotomy.

Now at this point, everything becomes interesting. Because most people tend to quickly dismiss negative experiences and make an effort to erase them from memory. This seems consistent with the human desire to take root in positive energies.

But something very important is lost with this rejection (no to NO): precisely the ability to multiply successes.

The one who makes the least mistakes always gets more right!

Some think that victories have their destiny and work hard for it, but this task demands a lot of energy and faces adverse odds.

The NO collector, on the other hand, knows well what to avoid and what to take advantage of. By having precise knowledge of what not to do, he understands what should be done. And this represents, finally, energy savings.

Many call this “experience,” and in a sense that is correct. Life gives lessons every moment, and the more there are and the more time passes, the better.

However, there is a subtle error in the understanding of the “experiences” that accumulate and the supposed benefits they provide. Because “experiences” everyone will eventually have, and that does not guarantee anything favorable.

For experiences to be positive, something must have been learned from them and converted into conditions for future actions. This is how we transcend experience alone to expertise.

Being aware of problems and adversities experienced is not enough, since this does not guarantee learning. Positive experience does not emerge from the inertial accumulation of negative events. Much less if they try to forget or discard.

The collector of the NOs he has received in life is well aware of negative events. He identifies them and records them clearly in his memory. He keeps them as prized possessions and regards them with affection. Does it seem absurd? Well, it is not!, because behind this process there IS a genuine and favorable experience.

Now, don’t confuse things! This is not about collecting problems, adversities,  and disappointments. It is a matter of identifying and classifying the factors that caused everything. There is the NO. In those elements that caused failure and defeat.

The details of the path that should be avoided are not stored in memory, the sign that says “DO NOT take this path” is remembered. Behind it are the details, but it is the NO sign that defines new directions for the trip.

It is possible that in many circumstances you do not know what to do, but there is already progress if you know what NOT to do. And the collector is perfectly familiar with this!

Knowing what to do determines the probability of achieving success while understanding what NOT to do AVOIDS a mistake. And in the general balance of development (especially if it is measured with the yardstick of Strategy), the second is more valuable than the first.

Life is not a speed test, it is an endurance race. Success is not achieved by who moves faster, but by who does it better. This may well translate into the fact that the successful individual is, finally, the one who makes the fewest mistakes, not the one who achieves the most success.

To what extent does this define a conservative attitude toward life? Well, the answer emerges from a precision that must be kept in mind. Acting with the desire to make fewer mistakes is not the same as being afraid of making mistakes.

The NO collector operates without fear. Precisely because he has greater knowledge of the obstacles that must be avoided. He knows the route best. He has invested effort and time in recording and classifying caution signs. He treasures the warning signs, he does not forget them or have apprehension about them, and he does not try to discard them from memory because they could be considered reservoirs of negative energy.

NOs are not “collected” because they are afraid of them. Quite the opposite. It is done because it is understood that each of them contains invaluable lessons.

Carrying a backpack full of failures, pain, and bitterness through life is something else. That has nothing to do with the positive understanding of “experiences”. Making NO meat either. The collector is far from that nonsense. He does what best explains a healthy and productive mind: he impersonally observes problems. He does it like someone who keeps a collection of miniature cars in a display case.

The collection of NOs allows us to transcend from experience to expertise. From lesson to proposition.

On the other hand, it also helps to strengthen a positive attitude towards life, because only one who can master the negative forces that populate this world can be called “positive”. For these people, NOs are jealous sentinels of success. They have led him first and then prevented others from taking the prize.

Buddhism says that “pain is inevitable but suffering is optional.” Well, the NO’s in life are also inevitable, but making them a stumbling block or foundation depends on each person.

Be a collector of the NOs you have received in life! That is the way to invite success and say YES to existence.