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Month: January 2022

Miscellaneous Thoughts, Personal Development, Self Development

New Year, The ONE Resolution

I made a New Year’s Resolution and have been trying it out. It is based on principles from two sources:

The foundation of my resolution is from The One Thing, and it’s related to work.  The One Thing’s main premise (my words) is that while we all strive to do many, many things (again, I’m talking work here) there is ONE THING, one activity, that if done well, drives successful results more than all the other things that we think we need to do – including things we want to do, maybe things we think only we can do… The ONE THING acts like the proverbial “first domino” in the sequence to results.  I have found that ONE THING for me, and am doing my best to apply discipline every day toward accomplishing it.

And this is where the second principle comes into play – the idea that Ego is the Enemy.

In order to focus on the ONE THING, I have to put my ego aside because my ego is happiest doing MANY things.  My ego reminds me that I am good at more than just the ONE THING, and my ego (all of me really) feels stimulated when I do many things.  Plus, my ego loves demonstrating to others my wide range of expertise and wisdom – when I do, my body is flooded with pleasant hits of dopamine!

So, the second principle requires that I put my ego’s desires on hold until I’ve accomplished enough of the ONE THING.

This seems to be working.  Of course, it’s just January 20th.

Miscellaneous Thoughts, Personal Development

Flipping a Finger Injury

During a nice family walk on Christmas Day, I was tossing a miniature football with my sons and it hit a fingertip causing something called “mallet finger.”  It’s a condition in which the tendon detaches from the bone. REALLY?? This was a TOY football!  Anyway, it’s supposed to be painful, but in my case it’s just aggravating. The finger must be splinted for six weeks.

I acknowledge that this is a very minor injury and in the grand scheme of medical problems and life inconveniences, it’s is pretty small.

I’m writing about it because at first I found it strangely demotivating.  I would try to be productive but as I sat at my keyboard I couldn’t focus and I couldn’t get going. There was no rhythm to my work. I found that all very frustrating and quite strange, and then I compared myself (very unfavorably) to people who have truly life changing injuries and conditions.

This simple, minor process of reflection drove me to get a grip. I remembered that I had Dragon software installed on my computers and began dictating. That’s what I’m doing now. The rhythm is coming back to my work, and when this splint comes off, I expect I’ll still be dictating most of what I write.

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