If you want to get things done, you can’t give up on them part of the way through. When we plan, we put together recipes for success. Unfortunately, we often abandon them part way through because the results aren’t what we expect. Entrepreneur, weightlifter and travel photographer James Clear reminds us that you wouldn’t do that with an actual recipe.
Photo by Robert Couse-Baker
You say you want to get stronger. Are you following a recipe that will get you there? You say you want to lose weight. Are you following a recipe that will get you there? You say you want to build a business or write a book or travel somewhere new. Are you following a recipe that will get you there?
Now, I’m not a fan of doing the same thing over and over again when it doesn’t work. (If it’s a bad recipe, why cook it twice?) But there is a big difference between a bad recipe and an unfinished recipe. The truth is, like the athletes in the story above, you and I often change course halfway through the recipe and never give ourselves the chance to see results.
Sometimes, we have to change course a little bit as we go to adjust things as we learn. When we cook for the first time, we follow the recipe exactly. When we cook it subsequent times, we use our prior knowledge to make it work better for us. The metaphor still applies with change. Getting things done just takes a bit longer than cooking dinner.
Follow the Recipe: Are You Being Patient Enough to See Results? [James Clear]
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