Bad habits are easier to feed when we are alone.
When no one is around to check in on us, it’s easy to convince ourselves that one more marshmallow isn’t so bad.
“One more time won’t hurt.”
“This is the last one.”
“No one cares about me anyway.”
Fortunately, the opposite is true too.
You can reinforce good habits with more people around to support you.
Accountability only works with others.
The million-dollar question.
Of course, we don’t know if the idea you have worked or not. That’s why it’s just an idea.
Look, you probably been living a life of surety at this point. You’ve chosen a school, a field of study, a career…all because you thought it was likely to work. (Or maybe it was just the first thing to come along.)
Perhaps, now is the time to take a leap. To dare. To have guts. To do something that might not work.
The person who fails the most wins.
Waiting for lab results.
Waiting for test scores.
Waiting to heal.
Waiting in line at the DMV.
Waiting is the best opportunity to be doing something else. Waiting might be the time to be doing something important.
In reality, you’re not actually waiting. You’re either working or your not.
Life is full of moments of waiting. What you do while you wait makes a big difference in what you produce.
When people are asked what they need. In general, they will respond to what they face every day.
But what if we are facing something new?
Pandemics are not a new thing in terms of human history. But they may be new to us specifically. After all, it’s possible (I repeat possible but not likely) to have lived through the 1918 Spanish Flu and never heard about it.
Today, you can’t turn on your phone without hearing about COVID-19 which means it is much easier to spread misinformation and to amplify our fears than ever before.
Here is an excellent post from A Learning A Day on the subject. Reading the hard numbers is better than seeing another case popping up in your feed.
Cultivation theory is very real and the social media world is going to show it’s nasty head over the next several months. It’s also worth reminding everyone: Still, be prepared. Perhaps, the US will shut down for a couple weeks. Are you ready for that? The unknown is what terrifies us. But if you are reading this, chances are you are much more likely to be killed driving to work today.
I think most of us say this with good intentions. Yet, as we step back into our everyday lives, we get busy.
If we truly want to help someone, a better approach would be to say:
“Here is how I can help ____________.”
Instead of letting the person you seek to serve guess, tell them what it is you can do. Be specific.
“Here is how I can help, I can move your washer and dryer on Tuesday night.”
This puts the responsibility back on ourselves to care for one another.
It turns out, we spend an enormous amount of time putting out fires. Some of which we start. And once we put one out, two more spark in its place.
Think about it. When is the last time your inbox was zero? Or didn’t have something else to do on our checklists.
Not very often, if ever anymore.
Great work isn’t in the absence of the banal. It’s in sync with it. Never without.
Don’t spend your time-solving problems. Instead, invest in better opportunities.
We recently bought our first home. It’s a major fixer-upper.
Couple observations:
Before we bought, I had my friend who was a General Contractor for 30+ years look at it. In his words, “You can’t even call this craftmanship.” Another friend who does a lot of remodeling said, “One of the worst fixer-uppers I have ever seen.” I also spoke with some neighbors and they all said the same thing. The previous owners had worked really hard to fix it up but it still looked awful.
How come no one had the courage to say stop? Where was the friend with the guts to say, “Don’t keep doing this.”?
Indeed, having a friend like this is rare.
The second thing I’ve noticed is this. By all accounts, the owners had put a lot of sweat equity to “fix up the place” before selling. They were upset when they weren’t getting the price they wanted from potential buyers.
Our expectations don’t match reality. Our realities don’t match other people’s expectations.
Resiliency is the ability to stand up eight times after being knocked down seven.
All highly resilient people have one common trait. And that is the ability to say, “The story I am telling myself is…”
When we take adversity, turn it into a learning experience, our quality of life improves.
One of the critical reviews of David Lynch’s Lost Highway got two thumbs down.
To which Lynch replied that this would be a good reason to go see it.
At the time, many considered it to be one of Lynch’s worst movies. Since then, it has developed a cult following and still receives mixed reviews today.
It wasn’t for everybody. It’s not a blockbuster hit. It’s not universally loved. It wasn’t perfect or polished.
But…
If you want to see a different movie then this one was for you.
They say everyone is a critic. What we need to understand is that it’s easy to be critical of things that we don’t understand. At some point, we have to stop and ask, “Is this for me?”
Prince Charming isn’t coming to rescue you. The Tooth Fairy isn’t coming with a pile of cash.
It’s just you.
No one is going to rescue you from this mess. And no one is going to make the path you’ve chosen any easier either.
Don’t sit around and wait.
Do.
