Sometimes You Have to Go South to Go North

I was attending a class with a colleague and we wanted to stop by a mutual friends office that was 1 exit North of where we were.  So we headed northbound on the highway and had to go up to the second exit because there was no Northbound Exit for the correct street.  So to get to the correct address we had to actually go South to go North.

 

This is a topic that I think about a LOT!  When is the direct route not the fastest route?  It turns out that so many things fall into this category. 

• Education
• Fitness
• Eating Well
• Productivity

 

Education - You learn more from your failures than you do from your successes.  By having the ability to reflect on what you did and the outcomes, you can prevent repeating the same problem again.  I have been helping a newer colleague perform a task that only happens rarely.  Based on my experiences, I have been able to express some of the pitfalls that I have encountered because of my failures.  I'm hoping that it keeps the same thing from happening to her but I also know that if she does have something go wrong, she will learn from that.

 

Fitness - Anytime you start using muscles that you hadn't used in a while there is bound to be some soreness.  You may not be able to repeat on day 2 what you did on day 1.  You have to accept that while you are getting better, you may not be on a constant upward trajectory.

 

Eating Well - There is a lot of literature out there that says if you want to stick to a diet long term, you need to include "Cheat Days" or times where you are off the diet.  There is nothing more annoying than a reformed anything.  The same is true for people (me included) that have changed their eating habits.  I have been doing a Keto like diet for several months and have had great success with it.  I have also allowed myself plenty of slack on times when I am out at family gatherings or having dinner with friends.  Being able to realize that I have the capacity to get back on track and that if your goal is to lose weight constantly you are going to die allows me some flexibility.  I am happy with the way things are going and I know that even if I were to go on a vacation, I would have the ability to bounce back from that.  For the most part just working to reduce the number of days in a row that involves things outside of the diet is really helpful.

 

Productivity - This is actually the reason that I was thinking about this topic today.  Speaking for myself, I need to have down periods where I am able to shift gears instead of working on one thing constantly.  Taking the weekend off from work has been so helpful in keeping me fresh for work.  Going on walks at the beginning or in the middle of the day really has improved my mood and productivity.  Sure there will always be more than enough work to fill the day but when you want to run a marathon, you cannot sprint from the beginning.

 

What is something that you have found that you need to do less of to get more out of?