Do What You Can, When You Can
"It would be ridiculous to hold your breath and blame others for your inability to breathe."
-Steve Maraboli
I've found the "Dog" and "Cat" metaphors very useful over the last couple of months. The difference is that "dogs" come when you call, and play tricks. They are obedient. "Cats" can ignore your direct requests, but will come and curl up on your lap when you are busy.
So in any goal, and task, there are the things we can directly influence ("dogs") and the stochastic or probability-based reactions of the universe or other people ("cats")
For instance, let's say you were a door-to-door salesman. You want to sell a vacuum cleaner (that's a pretty old example, but hang in there).
You do NOT know which housewife will buy the vacuum cleaner. That is the "cat." But you do know that, overall across the company, the average ratio is 20:1. You have to knock o give twenty presentations tok make one sale. And you have to knock on 3 doors to get one invitation to give a presentation. That means you have to knock on 60 doors to make one sale, right?
Knocking on 60 doors is the "dog". The specific housewife who lets you in and then purchases is the "cat."
Focus on the dog. Someone wants to write a bestselling novel? The "dog" is the work, and the research. Can one deliberately create a bestseller? Depends on definitions but yes, it seems to be possible. What if you want to create a "classic"?
Well…there are things you can do to maximize the quality of your work, but so much of that is subjective that yeah, it’s a "cat." But working every day, researching the best books in your category, creating a circle of beta readers, sending it out, and taking your lessons and investing them in the next book…those things are the "dog", and the doggie needs to be walked every day.
There are lots of arenas in which it is useful to separate elements into the "I can control this" and the "the outside world determines this."
For instance:
Discipline in exercise and diet is up to YOU. Time practicing skills is up to YOU. But does that mean you, or your team, will win? No. That depends upon the other team/opponent, the judges, the circumstances.
Can you get a movie made? Yes. Can you guarantee it will make money, or be "good" by some particular person's standards? No. But you have to walk the dog to even have a CHANCE to play with the cat.
You can apply for jobs, but can't determine who will hire you.
You can ask someone on a date, but you can't determine who will say "yes."
You can do everything sane and reasonable to prepare your car and your route, but you CANNOT be sure you'll reach your destination.
Remember that the cat will come and play with you when you are totally busy doing your thing. So be sure that you spend time every day totally immersed in the "dogs."
How much time? I suspect that the Pomodoro interval (25 minutes of total focus) is not a bad choice.
25 minutes of kettlebell intervals and stretching is a damned fine day.
25 minutes of dictation or polishing will produce over 500 words a day, easy.
25 minutes of focused family meeting can keep your kids on track, and connect you to your spouse on a busy day.
If you're really horribly busy, 25 minutes can connect you with your body, emotions, and mind so that you are, all day, doing all you can. You can't control the storm, but you can find the "eye" and stay calm there. In fact, the 10-20 minutes of the FIREDANCE program fit very nicely there.
Got less time? The "Five Minute Miracle" of simply breathing for 60 seconds five times a day will get you going. And if you say you don't have that time? You are lying to yourself. NO ONE with the resources and time to be reading social media doesn't have five minutes a day.
No one. You may have emotional blocks, value confusions. A lack of executive function. All of these can be dealt with various combinations of therapy, medication, meditation, self-hypnosis, journaling, and various support techniques.
Start here. Five minutes a day. BREATHE. Then leverage your way to 10-25 minutes: one Pomodoro, all day, to own your own life.
I promise: if you don't own your life, someone is sniffing around, right now, to see if they can own YOU.
Make this week magnificent. Commit to just five minutes a day. Then a Pomodoro of Firedance, brining body, heart, and head together. Then "Done By One", finding the 20% of your activities that give you 80% of the results and prioritizing them. Be sure that every week you are working on two things:
The skills of your craft and business
Your mastery of time and energy.
This week, this amazing, wonderful week…a billionaire on his death bed would give EVERYTHING for this week of your life. Don't you dare sell it cheap.
Namaste
Steve
