The easiest version is better than the perfect version
Have you ever tried tracking your food on a tracking app? If you can get past groans from your friends and family, there are a few other things that might get in the way…
One of those things is wanting to be perfect at it.
This happened to me. Having worked out the macros I needed to be consuming daily, I started my first day measuring every single thing I ate and it took AGES.
So long in fact that every time I tared my food scale I fantaised about giving up completely.
The problem wasn’t the food weighing, it was that I was trying to do the olympic version of it!
I went from NEVER weighing my food to weighing the oil I was about to cook my veges in.
Yeah, I know I’m groaning WITH you!
So instead of giving up, I thought :”Look, I’ll just try my best”
What did my best look like? Well, if I weighed ANY food whatsoever in a day, I won.
Strangely, by lowering my ‘standard’ I had actually raised it. I’ve heard it said that perfection is the lowest standard because perfection is impossible. So you’ve set a standard you know you can’t achieve so therefore you have NO standard!
So I figured my new standard was doable.
And it totally was. I felt zero pressure to weigh the oil (and the fumes it gave off)
I was just weighing the best I could in the time I had.
I was doing my best. You could say it was the easiest version. And if the 80/20 rule is to be believed you could say I was yielding most of the results from this level of efforts too.
The best part? I gradually became more exact in my measurements as time went on- but I did not START there. Where I am now with that particular habit stands on the shoulders of a simpler version of the habit.
Get momentum first, then worry about the details.
So if you’re trying something new, ignore the groaners and do the easiest version for now.
Once momentum gets going, you can weigh the fumes, the condensation and the breath you expel saying the name of the dish you’re cooking.
How do you sensitise yourself?
The world has so much stimulus flying at us in all directions.
We tune a lot of it out.
I’m thinking a lot about how to resensitise ourselves to the world.
What do you focus on? What do you put in your body on a regular basis? How do you move your body?
All of these things have an effect on my capacity to feel and be moved by the world around me.
A feather can be moved by a baby’s breath.
A rock cannot.
The greatest personal limitation
“The greatest personal limitation is… the things you’ve never considered doing.”
-Richard Bandler
Best interaction
I’m walking to the staff room. There’s a 6 year old with wild hair who stops in front of me.
Kid: Who are you?
Me: I’m Justin
Kid:….. COOL!
Me: Who are you?
Kid: Hugo!
Me: COOL!!!
Now every time I pass Hugo he never fails to greet me excitedly.
Aren’t kids awesome?
Magic popcorn
I’m teaching a music and drama program at a school this week.
My co-tutor told the kids to think of their birth date. Just the number of the month that their special day lands on.
I thought earnestly about the 5th.
She began hitting drum sticks together and explained that she would do 31 hits of her stick. The kids’ job was to clap when she reached their number.
Click, click, click, click CLAP- I clapped on the 5th beat to reflect my birth date.
The kids gazed up at her, counting internally until their special number came- then CLAP!
It was beautiful to have this orchestra of sporadic claps from these young souls. Claps that represented the moment they came into existence.
Like magic popcorn.
It struck me what a miracle life is and I was suddenly reminded again what an honour it is to have the privilege to connect with these young people and make some impact on their young lives.
Every second a new pop corn is popped, a new heart exists, a new life appears- ready to be respected, loved and honoured by us.
Yoghurt knows yoghurt
If you know, you know.
And you’re responsible, by the way, to be the best yoghurt you can be.
Simple vs. Easy
Things that are simple mightn’t be easy.
If it’s worth it, it probably isn’t easy.
But it may well be simple.
Difficult doesn’t have to mean something is unpleasant either.
Something tricky can be fun.
Something simple can be hard to execute.
And things that are worth doing can be difficult and enjoyable.
Ai is the destroyer of limiting beliefs
Not only does it know a lot about how to do many things.
But it is relentlessly optimistic and flexible.
If something isn’t working it’ll give you 3 other options for what to do- with a smile.
Got something you want to achieve? Well, go give it a go.
It’s always a good idea
This morning I hummed and ahh’d about planning my day out.
“I’ll just get started now”
“By the time I plan it I could be well underway with what actually matters”
Let me tell you, it’s ALWAYS a good idea to plan your day.
Clarity of objective, intention and a scheduled time to complete it is unbeatable.