Learned helplessness. It is a state that occurs after a person has experienced a stressful situation repeatedly. As a result of which, we come to believe that we are unable to control or change the situation, so we don’t even try, not even when an opportunity for change presents itself.

The important thing about this phrase is the term learned. We were not born with this. Rather, as kids, we are far more gutsy and unafraid of failure. This is something we learn as we grow into adults. And more often than not, it is just our brain making noise, sowing seeds of self doubt.

Chris Evans explains it well – telling your mind to quiet down sometimes is not denying the problem but rather rising above it. Like he says, it cannot be defined as a generic rule of thumb which category a situation falls under. We learn the knack of telling the difference once we experience it for ourselves.

Sshhh… Deceptively simple but powerful.