THRIVE! Talkin'!

Don't just read the newsletter, live it!
Jump into the THRIVE! forum and get set for success!

Inchworm

It's sad to admit, but I've reached an age where I need to start watching what I eat. When I was a younger, less handsome man, I ate pretty much whatever I wanted. A youthful metabolism and a fairly active lifestyle helped keep my weight and health in check. The problem was that I never really learned how to eat. Actually, I knew how to eat in the dictionary sense, but I didn't know how to eat well. (Turns out there's a difference.)

So for 2007, I bit the bullet and decided to read a book on nutrition. THRIVE! Guy Jim Hill was kind enough to give me Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook. (I think he's comforted by the fact that I need to read it.) A quick flip through the pages proves that it's a comprehensive tome full of great background, tips, and recipes.

There was only one problem. I'd had the book since January and I still hadn't read it.

I needed to read the book. I enjoyed reading the book on those rare occasions that I could find the time to do so. But I wasn't making any real progress. How was that possible? With my current schedule, it's hard for me to find time to dedicate to reading. My week is filled with work. My weekend is filled with family activities. By the time I slow down enough to think about reading, it's usually late in the evening. By the time Leno hits the small screen, I feel mentally drained. (Where's the ice cream?)

Worse yet, I was feeling frustrated that I hadn't read the book. This was supposed to be one of my easier goals for the year. It was just a book, but there it sat, mocking me with the untapped knowledge it contained. (Stupid Nancy Clark.) I had to do something.

I became resolute. I wasn't going to get fat without a fight. I decided to set aside an hour each day to read. An hour really isn't that much time when you think about it. It takes two hours to watch a movie. (Even a crappy one.) It takes an hour to cook 25% of a turkey. Heck, I could run half a mile in an hour if I really felt like it. (Alert the paramedics.)

I scoured my schedule to find the elusive hour. Early in the morning? Nope. Mid-day, say over lunch? Nope. In the evening after dinner? Not gonna happen. Grrr. I was brimming with frustration. I looked down at my Cheeto-stained fingertips and realized there had to be a better way.

Just when things seemed untenable, I remembered an axiom shared with me by an old friend. He used to be a shotputter, and he imparted the wisdom of his former coach:

"Inch by inch is a cinch - yard by yard is hard."

OK, but what the hell did that have to do with my book? It turns out it had everything to do with my book. I decided that developing self-discipline and establishing a routine was going to be the key to my success. In my situation, an inch was a mere paragraph. Reading a paragraph should take 30 seconds, maybe 60 seconds if it involved the funky new "food pyramid". (Why did they change it anyway? The best part of 3rd grade health class was having the teacher describe the Nuts Group.)

So an inch is a paragraph, and a paragraph is easy, but how helpful is it really? I'm glad you asked. I've found that my new "inch by inch" approach:

Makes me feel I'm doing something constructive. Sitting around being frustrated certainly wasn't helping, so now I'm doing something small but positive.

Still counts as forward progress. I'm learning a little bit each night and sometimes, I even read two paragraphs or even a whole page. (Egad!)

Develops a pattern I can build on. The self-discipline of reading every night is a very positive thing and a key to my long term success. (And cholesterol.)

At this pace, how long will it take me to finish the book? 26 years. (Stupid Nancy Clark.) Sure, they'll have invented a new Food Dodecahedron by then, but fortunately for me, that's not the point. I feel good that I'm chipping away at my goal, and I've learned the role and importance of Whole Grains in my daily diet. Yum.

So an "inch by inch" approach turned out to be just the ticket for my problem. It's a good thing I figured it out, too. I have an unopened copy of "War and Peace" burning a hole in my bookshelf.

Related Links

Coaching Quickie: Save Ferris

Check back next week for results!

Last Week's Results

Coaching Quickie: Save Ferris
If you were a character in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, who would you be?

(42%) Ferris Bueller
(42%) Sloan Peterson
(17%) Cameron Frye
(00%) Principal Rooney

If you missed it, you can read last week's newsletter online here.