In the race of life, I am the tortoise. It’s not a strategy I adopted to defeat the hares of the world. I simply do better if I approach things at a slower pace. Moving at a faster pace makes everything more complicated and overwhelming. If I want to get anywhere, I must take baby steps. If I have to go any faster, I usually don’t move at all.
At my pace, I can’t take on too much. So…a word to the experts who make their living promoting self-improvement. I’m ignoring you for now, and I’m sorry. I’ve seen the titles of your work: 10 top gardening tips for beginners; 58 best organizing tips; 15 practical budgeting tips; 18 fitness tips to get into shape. Do you really think I have that kind of time and energy? Yes, I want to be better at life. Honest. But the lists you provide exhaust me. Remember, the people looking at your lists lack natural abilities in your area of expertise. We are clueless, and we can’t keep up.
I’d like to ask a favor. The next time you provide a list of tips to transform a life, please add these two simple words at the end of the title: pick one.
Aaaaahhhhhh. Doesn’t that feel better?
To illustrate my point, I googled “how to reduce stress.” Keep in mind that google thinks I’m stressed and need rescuing. Here’s a sampling of the search results.
17 Highly Effective Stress Relievers.
16 Simple Ways to Relieve Stress.
17 Tips to Manage Stress.
25 Ways to Relieve Stress.
Those numbers are daunting. I can feel my chest tightening, when moments ago I wasn’t even stressed. Should de-stressing really be this…stress-inducing? Now let’s try my method. At the end of each title, we’re going to mentally insert the phrase “pick one.” If you’re a tortoise like me, what you feel is instant comfort, and all it took was the simple addition of those two little words: pick one.
Ideally the experts, when writing their instructions, will take the “pick one” theme further. The expert, realizing the audience is full of tortoises, can add something like, “If all you can handle is one, that’s good enough. You’ll still see improvement. When you feel ready, add another, if you like.” You mean I don’t have to master them all? Now that’s a pace I can live with.
You may argue that I should pull out my Sharpie and write “pick one” at the end of any of the titles I’ve listed above. If only. You see, the expert didn’t write the list with a pick-one orientation in mind. I’ll demonstrate with a tip from one of the articles to relieve stress.
Tip #12: Light a candle.
To be fair, the expert did provide a list of fragrances that are reputed to soothe. But I think we all know we are asking way too much from the candle. For “pick one” to work, the tip must stand on its own, and lighting a candle to relieve stress needs the support of the other 24 tips. Nope. That tip is a reject. The Sharpie alone is not qualified to fix these titles. We must defer to the experts to make the corrections. I’m not asking for much. Just one small, beautifully constructed step to help me take a giant stride.
Into the Comfort Zone 