To get this started, I’m going to tell you a story. It’s not an exciting story. But I think that if you stick with me, you’ll find some value at the end. Hopefully.
The other day I was blowing out the gym with my trusty electric leaf blower. I finished the job, dropped the doors down and began to wind up the 50’ extension cord like I always do. Normally, as I come closer to the end that is still plugged in to the wall socket, I gently yank on the cord, popping the male end loose from the wall socket and finish the wind job. This time, however, I had a “daymare”, as Jen and I call them. I imagined myself doing what I normally do, but this time - in my daymare - the cord detaches from the male end which remains stuck in the socket. This may not sound terrible, but it would ultimately result in a stupid amount of little “fix-it” projects that would add needless shit to an already busy week.
I know, this is a lame ass story, but stay with me.
Look, every once in a while, in an effort to do something faster or more efficiently, we do things that backfire and actually create a lot more work for us in the long run. Sometimes, however, if we’re lucky AND paying attention, our intuition tells us that this may not be a great idea. The daymare scenario from above was my intuition kicking in and telling me that yanking on the cord to pop it loose was going to screw me over eventually.
Hearing this intuitive plea is one thing.
Actually listening and applying a change of course is another.
I now walk all the way to the outlet, grip the end of the cord and pull the cord loose from the wall, ensuring that the cord itself stays intact and prevents me from having to do silly repairs to something that could’ve been easily avoided in the first place.
See! That story was lame as hell, but we got to the nugget! I hope you can see that there is tremendous crossover to pretty much every aspect of your life. I challenge you to analyze one thing you purposely do in an effort to save time or complete a task faster. Does it really add up to efficiency? Or, does it set you up for some sort of backfire scenario that creates needless stress in the long run?
We often take the path of instant gratification, faster is better, more is better. But, what are we setting ourselves up for in the big picture when we live each moment in this mindset? I don’t have answers. I’m just asking the question.
