James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, has a newsletter called “3-2-1.” It is, unsurprisingly, full of tiny “atomic” nuggets of wisdom. Here’s the format: three ideas from Clear, two quotes from others, and one question for the reader. No elaboration or commentary on the items in the list, just truly small pieces of content to get your mind thinking. At least that’s what it does for me.
One of the “three ideas” a few weeks ago was:
“Take all the energy you spend on…
– worrying about the past
– worrying about the future
– worrying about what others think
– worrying about if you might fail
… and channel that energy into one useful action within your control.”
James Clear
This message was helpful this weekend. While I’m not a huge “worrier,” I do perseverate when life is a little chaotic. I have a lot going on this month, and I had a moment this weekend when my mind was spinning with all of the “to dos.” I couldn’t get moving. I had plans for the day; I had already decided which task I was going to tackle. But before leaving my house to get started, I sat there mentally reviewing the massive list. I started questioning whether or not what I had chosen was the “right” thing.
But then I thought about James Clear, about channeling the energy I was wasting worrying about whether this task was the MOST important task into actually DOING the task. There were lots of options I could have chosen. And I had already thought about the relative importance of each. I had to trust myself – the task I had chosen was an important one. The fact was – if I just got started I would be able to check it off the list. THAT was the piece that was in my control at the moment.
I’m thinking of this as I head into a busy week. We’re nearing high school graduation, about to list our house for sale, getting ready to move from the place we’ve lived for 17 years, and I have events on my calendar to talk about my book and lots of other “business as usual” work to keep up with. Not to mention, I am traveling out of the country in June. This quote is going to live on my wall in my office to remind me that when I start flailing, it’s time to channel my energy into one useful action within my control.
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