3 — things i’m thinking about this week

• i — your fate is enough…

  • Every single person compares themselves to others…I like their car. Their career is better than mine, I wish I made as much as them, their house is “to die for.”
    
    The truth is that every single privilege that you see others “enjoy” comes with its own sort of curse. Sure, their car might be nicer than yours but you can’t see the sleepless nights filled with self-esteem issues…or you love their house but don’t see the dysfunctional family life.
    
    In short, recognize that your fate…your life’s purpose is enough with trying to chase after shiny things you see others appear to enjoy.

• ii — you failed…so?

  • Welcome to the club! Too frequently, our failures end up being the “little push” over the edge and down a slippery slope of more and more failures. Failing to get in a workout leads to overeating at lunch which leads to throwing in the towel for today…which leads to throwing in the towel for the week and planning to start on a Monday that doesn’t come for six months. (…insert any other discipline-based scenario here…)
    
    Imagine instead if you were to give yourself permission to fail? You missed a workout, hit the snooze button too many times, or re-engaged with that bad habit you promised yourself you’d stop, but then you just acknowledge the failure and move on. What would that look like?
    
    I can’t imagine throwing my computer away because I misspelled a word. Or purposefully crashing my car and walking everywhere from now on because I missed a stop sign…Or leaving my family because I acted stupid and made a fool of myself…Instead, in those situations, I adapt. I make the course corrections needed and move FORWARD. I hit delete and fix the mistake, I become more diligent in my hunt for stop signs on my journey, I apologize and fix my attitude.
    
    We can ALL choose to put failure in its place…will you?

• iii — what are you really chasing?

  • One of the trickiest tricks of human nature is to cause us to chase things that others want…Often, to the detriment of what’s most important to us.
    
    I think this story from my Jimmy John’s cup some years back drives the point home pretty well…Enjoy!
    
    The Fisherman

    The American investment banker was at the pier of a
    small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with
    just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellow-fin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.

    The Mexican replied, “Only a little while.”
    

    The American then asked, “Why didn’t you stay out longer
    and catch more fish?”
    

    The Mexican said, “With this, I have more than enough to support my family’s needs.”
    

    The American then asked, “But what do you do with the rest of your time?”
    

    The Mexican fisherman said, “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos, I have a full and busy life.”
    

    The American scoffed, “I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing; and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat: With the proceeds from the bigger boat, you could buy several boats. Eventually, you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman, you would sell directly to the
    processor; eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing, and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then Los Angeles, and eventually New York where you will run your ever-expanding enterprise.”
    

    The Mexican fisherman asked, “But, how long will this all take?”
    

    To which the American replied, “15 to 20 years.”
    

    “But what then?” asked the Mexican.
    

    The American laughed and said that’s the best part. “When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions.”
    

    “Millions?…Then what?”
    

    The American said, “Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take a siesta with your wife, and stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos.”

2 — quotes from others

1 — question to make you think

What do you currently do that adds the most meaning and quality to your life? How can you do more of that?

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