Greg's Right FIT #456

Quick notes to help you grow your business in less time with less effort. . . sometime next week. 

In this issue: 

- Thoughts on Pressure
- Being Human
- Random Stuff

Thoughts on Pressure

• The best way to deal with a pressure-filled period of time is being well rested. Get your sleep. The research says to use all the tricks in the book to get it. You'll need them.
• Check yourself in the mirror. Is what's causing pressure coming from the person in the reflection or some other source? If it's us, and we're wondering what others will think, the pressure may be coming from our ego. Check your ego.
• Try getting physical. Going for a walk, riding a bike, hitting the gym, heck, even vacuuming or mopping the floor does wonders to alleviate pressure. Get moving.
• A special kind of physical activity is losing yourself in a passion. A hobby gives pleasure. Pressure tells us there's no time to waste, but studies show immersing yourself in a physical hobby helps you get over obstacles. Try it. 

Being Human - The story to tell

"The confidence that individuals have in their beliefs depends mostly on the quality of the story they can tell about what they see, even if they see little.”
― Danny Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow

The wedding season is well underway, and I'm hearing stories about plans going awry, unplanned expenses, dreaded interactions, and work interruptions. It reminds me of something the late Danny Kahneman said about such events. The success of the event depends on the stories we tell ourselves, more than the reality we experience. 

If you want to test this yourself, think back to a recent sub-optimal experience. An event that didn't meet your expectations for one reason or another.

Do you have one in mind? 

Now, examine that event a little closer. Is there any part of it that was enjoyable? Even just one percent entertaining? Hold on to that moment. 

Re-tell the story of the event and focus on that small percent that you enjoyed. Put it in a quick email or text to a friend. "Remember that movie we saw last week? I really enjoyed XXXXX." 

Do that two or three times and something happens. The success of the event goes up a notch or two. 

Once these wedding celebrations are behind you, challenge yourself to tell only stories of the amazing moments. It will make it all worthwhile. Others will even wish they were there. 

Good stuff. 
 

Random Stuff

"A reliable way of making people believe in falsehoods is frequent repetition, because familiarity is not easily distinguished from truth." ― Danny Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow

Do you ever think about the stories you have heard/told yourself so often that you never consider if they're real? 

I've been caught distorting my version of the world more than a few times. As we enter into fall, one immediately springs to mind. I'm reminded of a story about the procurement of a particularly hard-to-get item. Actually, an almost impossible to get item. 

The story didn't happen to me. It's someone else's story. I heard the story one way, and repeated it for many years. More than a decade. Probably two. My story is the ultimate compliment to the subject. It reflects all of their best qualities. Their selflessness, their giving nature, their interest in strangers, and their kindness. These traits culminated in the gift of this impossible-to-get item. I told the story to people who know the subject, and they would nod their heads in agreement. "Sounds just like so-and-so," they'd say. 

Good things happen to good people, is the moral of my story. 

Years later, on a road trip with this person, this priceless item came up. I referenced my version of how they came to possess it. They looked at me, "that's not what happened at all," they said, shaking their head. "This is what happened." 

What followed was a mundane tale about a simple transaction. No selflessness, no offering, no interest in a stranger, nothing. In this case, my fiction was stranger than the truth.

You're probably saying, "Hey! Spill the deets! Tell the tale!" 

I can't. Or, I won't. I've stopped telling the story. Actually, I'm saving it. It is so nice that the true place for my story is at the subject's funeral. My friend Esteban's Dad used to say this about funerals: "I don't know who they're talking about, but it doesn't sound like the guy I knew," and he's right. If I'm lucky enough to still be around, it'll be the perfect time to tell my story. 

Especially because the subject won't be around to deny it! 

Now, I just need to bide my time. No hurry.