Perfection is in the process. Not on the result.
There’s a huge emphasis that effort leads to results. But that isn’t true. Effort can certainly lead to the desired results. The gym is an example of this. But often, things just work out. You’re in line for a promotion because of seniority or perhaps you have a near miss on the highway because of someone else’s actions.
Effort is important but it isn’t the only factor that gets you to the places you want to go. Biology, social economics, environment, personal choices, beliefs…the problem is when we reach an achievement and recognize the hard work behind it, we also tend to try think the reason that someone hasn’t achieved success if an effort problem.
In a finite world, what you haven’t isn’t a signal of what you posses but what you don’t. In a finite world, we are counting what is available.
Social media has made us possessive. As a constant reminder of what we are lacking, we tend to hold tighter to what we do have.
Isaac Asimov wrote over 400 books in his lifetime. How?
He didn’t have Chat GPT, the internet, or a laptop. He sat down and typed. Every day.
By the time he was done, he had a large body of work.
One day at a time. It starts now.
You can have all the knowledge and skill to avoid them. But if you ski enough, you will likely encounter some close calls.
One thing I tell myself to stay away from them is, “I hate avalanches.”
I know it seems silly but our bodies literally avoid things we don’t like. It’s a trick but anytime the question is in play to ski avy terrain, I quietly say how much I can’t stand them.
Are to grow into the trees we will never sit under.
That’s the gift. Leaving things better than they are today for someone else.
We dumpstered, squatted, and shoplifted our lives back. Everything fell into place when we decided our lives were to be lived. Life serves the risk taker…” — Anonymous
This quote comes from an interesting book called Evasion. The author is anonymous and wrote the manuscript to be passed around as a code to living at the barest means.
The part that resonates again for me a decade place later is making the decision to live instead of settling of getting by.
Getting on the Ed Sullivan Show was a big deal. Artists were asked to lip sync when they came on to perform. That didn’t sit well with The Mamas & The Papas. Particularly Michelle Phillips who is eating and singing into a banana. It was a because she was trying to be difficult. It was because she wanted to say something. And you can’t say something when you are being told what to say. That space is where art, change, and revolution happens.
Are some the hardest to overcome. When we are feeling unsure about the outcome, we can’t help but let our minds wander. And too often they can wander into some dark places. The best we can do is accept whatever outcome happens. It may be the worst case scenario. But more likely it isn’t as bad as we imagine.
I cannot stress the importance of getting one. The older I get the more I appreciate. There’s always something that pops up that isn’t expected.
A mistake in your calculations in taxes when purchasing a large item, the water heater goes out, legal services, kid needs braces…something always comes up.
It is really hard to get ahead. I don’t want to down play that part. However, if you can carving out 3-6 months of overhead goes a long way in getting towards the life you design.
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