In 1933, a devastated and frustrated woman named Frau sent a letter to psychologist Carl Jung asking him “how to live.”
(I guess she didn’t have an Instagram influencer screaming motivational clichés.)
Jung replied:
“I can’t answer your question, because you want to know how one should live. One lives as long as one can.
…If you do the next most necessary thing with confidence, you are always doing something meaningful and intended by destiny. ”
He was sharing the keys to life.
This is part of a recovery community like Alcoholics Anonymous.
It became the title of the song Disney’s Frozen 2.
“The next right thing.”
Reexamining this story made me think about how much my ideas about success and progress have changed over the years.
Redefining “success”
I’ve been doing Nerd Fitness for over 15 years.
Millions of people visit the site each year, more than 50,000 customers purchase products through NF, and our coaches have served more than 15,000 one-on-one clients.
During that time, I have changed my perspective on success and living well.
I believed that the only path to success required combative discipline following a specific plan. I never missed a workout and was incredibly proud of that.
I had no idea how much it meant. blessed simple life I lived in a place where I had 100% control over my time.
(Sorry to all the parents who read my 25 year old perspective!).
Now that I’m 40 years old, I can understand the type of people we are. actually With the help of Nerd Fitness, I have pretty dramatically changed the way I view success and “living well.”
Success doesn’t happen when you learn how to do everything perfectly, but when you learn to get along even when things don’t go well.
In other words, success is learning consistency without consistency. Learn to be competent enough over a long enough period of time.
It means focusing on the “next right thing” when life seems chaotic.
do the next right thing
a recent newsletters Author Oliver Berkman talks about how he chooses to maintain some semblance of sanity in an overwhelming world.
I am reminded of the following passage by author Eckert Tolle:
“What you call ‘life’ should more accurately be called ‘life situations.’ It is psychological time: past and future.
…Forget about your life situation for a while and pay attention to your life.
Please find the “narrow gate that leads to life.” It’s called “now”.
Focus your life on this moment. Your life situation may be full of problems – most life situations are – but find out if there are any problems at the moment. Not tomorrow or 10 minutes from now, but now.
Is there a problem? now?
When we ruminate on what has already happened and feel fear about everything that could or should happen in the future…
It’s easy to feel out of control and overwhelmed.
So we go back to the clichéd “next right thing” solution.
It’s a cliché precisely because it’s true.
You can zoom in and focus on areas you still have control over. Depending on the situation, Yes, we are currently experiencing a problem. And we can focus on that one thing.
But in many other situations, we often worry about all the problems that could arise or things that are out of our control, which prevents us from taking action on the things we actually can control.
Berkman continues:
All I have to tell myself is: All I have to do is this…Whether I like it or not, I can always do only the next thing, and the next thing.
In fact, it’s a little strange to call any of these techniques “narrowing your horizons,” as if they involve artificially limiting yourself.
In fact, you are only consciously aware of how limited you were already at all times.
We all know how easy it is. overcomplicate things.
And when the world feels like a dumpster fire, it helps you focus on the next decision, the smallest goal, and the next right thing.
Work out, go for a walk, focus on your next meal, call your therapist, or finally say no To commitment.
If “now” is the only time we have, all we can really do is “the next right thing.”
I’m going to do what’s right for me next. It’s a walk.
-Steve
P.S: Maria Popova is Great article about “The Next Right Thing” This is because it relates to her life as a writer, which inspired this work.
PPS: Nerd Fitness employs several remote, part-time individuals to handle scheduled incoming calls from potential clients interested in one-on-one coaching (flexible hours, especially evenings and weekends). ). Click here for more information.
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