The Things We Teach Without Thinking — Episode 4: “It Is What It Is”

“It is what it is.”

It sounds like wisdom… until you realize it might be surrender.

In this episode of The Things We Teach Without Thinking, Instructor Mike unpacks the quiet danger of this common phrase — especially when it becomes a shield against growth, action, or responsibility.

Is it acceptance?

Is it avoidance?

Or is it learned helplessness dressed up as maturity?

We dig deep into:

• The science of learned helplessness (Dr. Martin Seligman)

• Locus of control and how it shapes our view of power (Julian Rotter)

• Growth mindset vs. resignation (Dr. Carol Dweck)

And we ask the real questions:

• When does acceptance become apathy?

• Are we honoring reality… or hiding behind it?

• And how do we reclaim our agency without rejecting the truth?

Because sometimes, it isn’t just what it is.

Sometimes, it’s what we allow it to keep being.

Family Matters with Instructor Mike — teaching the power of what we say, and what it teaches back.