Achievement: Leveraging Chaos

To the one who sees the value of consistency, yet tends towards extreme ups and downs in life:

You probably don't value the 'boring' world of steady progress, disciplined exercises and the like.

In fact, those words probably make you cringe.

I imagine that you probably feel like  you thrive in the world of chaos, competition, sports and games!

After all, you've gotten a LOT done in the past, when you went "all in, balls to wall, pedal the medal, face to the floor" and gotten after it.

You probably even 'secretly' - even fiercely, compete against others when your doing the same activity, like running on a treadmill, playing golf, or playing Scrabble.

So then, how could mundane discipline be for you?!


 Check this out:


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By consistently 'showing up' and giving it your best shot that day in the doing of simple disciplines & exercise, or whatever area you need to improve, you set a 'baseline', by which you'll naturally improve over time.

Then,
You can ALSO let your 'roller coaster' energies run wild with achievement, extra activities, and the like. It'll come and go - and that's the point. You'll achieve more in a burst of focus, and then you'll have to 'come down' and dissipate...BUT

As you keep up the 'mundane disciplines', your base foundation keeps getting higher, albeit gradually. 

Then,  BOTH your 'lows' and 'highs' from the roller-coaster part of you, keep getting HIGHER!!

Eventually, your 'lows' are higher than your previous 'highs', from when you started!

Whoa.

In other words, if you accept and embrace BOTH of these ways of living, and use them accordingly, you can actually leverage your own chaotic tendencies to your advantage. 

Imagine that. You, Mr. or Mrs. Spontaneous, creative, perhaps easily distracted - except when focused on a goal - could actually use your tendencies to your advantage, tempered by (but not replaced by) stead diligence.

A word on priorities:

When it comes to health and fitness, I rank these 3 highest, in this order:

1) Sleep
2) Nutrition
3) Exercise

If your 'tank' has holes in it, you won't be able hang on to much of the effort you are 'pouring' into it.

 Hence, why sleep and nutrition are ranked ahead of exercise.

I've violated this rule before, ALWAYS to my demise. I've seen tons of other people do it, too. Some keep doing it, as if finally they'll 'get it'.

Nope.

You can go without good sleep and nutrition for a season - a short season. Maybe a few days, to a few weeks at most. Then, it catches up with you...

And, with a vengeance. Your motivation is zapped. You become cranky, unfocused, dis-impassioned, unproductive, inefficient, you start packing on weight (or losing way too much)...your body starts to hurt.

Basically, you start to fall apart from the inside.

Not good.

Priorities: You either have them right, or you don't. There's really no 'for now..." when it comes to violating basic rules of effectiveness and happiness - except for those short seasons I mentioned, which STILL require a recovery after the fact.

I have to wrap this one up - but there you have it.

It's not "waves of chaotic achievement" OR "predictable, boring, accomplishment"

It's both. Both, I say!

Leverage your internal resources and live well,

-JG