SFH #187: The One Thing That Matters

A Monday Mantra 💫

I was having a reflective conversation with a close friend earlier today. We discussed the concept of pacing in day-to-day life and the need to slow things down—the very subject matter of just last Monday's entry. I'm bringing it back in today because the speed at which we decide to operate in life or how life paces around us profoundly affect how we approach our health. More explicitly, I mean our operating speed directly relates to our lifestyle choices. For example, do we wake up and take the time to exercise? Or prioritize a balanced breakfast? Do we connect with a close friend versus take in an episode of Ted Lasso (it's on my list 😳)? Are we winding down before bed? Are we leaning into alcohol, comfort foods, or other substances to balance stress?

Take a moment to reflect and see how your natural pace today or the last few days directly relates to a few critical choices, whether with an adverse or positive impact. What do you notice? Feel free to share with me any patterns you can see.

I took some time during my conversation with Mathew to consider my choices and how my pace was unsustainable. He's developed a great business model around guidance and coaching utilizing a modern and innovative approach with behavioral science at its foundation. As we unpacked the intricacies of my pacing last week, Matt brought an idea from James Clear, a habit-building expert. Just focus on the one thing that matters most right now and spend my time on that. Clear talks about the concept of steady progress on the one or few things that matter most versus max speed on all the things at once. I was guilty of the latter last week. I sped things up, getting anxious about everything right in front of me. Just out of a habitual reaction to my feelings, I stepped on the pedal, trying to create results from each opportunity.

And like clockwork, I hit the wall. I ended up catching a cough over the weekend, feeling overwhelmed coming into this week, and flat out needing rest. This state set me up ideally to reset, narrow my attention and focus on the one thing that matters as I enter a new week. This week my one thing is writing. When I write, I feel connected in all ways possible. It's not even just writing this blog, although this checks a lot of boxes. I can do my two-minute journal exercise, and it's as if I took a potent multivitamin. I can feel the incremental benefits over the weeks and months. The 'one thing' may change next week in my world, though the writing is always near the top.

What is the one thing that is most important for you this week? Where can you spend more time that will yield the outcomes you desire?