A SOBERING AND INSPIRING CHAT ABOUT WHERE WE’LL BE A YEAR FROM NOW
My husband imports handmade rugs. We live in Johannesburg, South Africa, and he trades mostly from the Middle East and India. As such, the value of the US dollar is vital to him.
He’ll often call me and ask “Babe, what is the dollar?” or “What is the rate?”. And given the volatility of our local currency of late, he’s added another question to this: “Which way is the arrow pointing?”. I’d never noticed this before, but on reflection, he’s correct: the graphs often end in an arrow-head pointing up or down, predicting whether the current situation will improve or decline. (This essentially informs him whether to hold or fold, to trade today, or hold off for a while).
And then, unrelated, I happened upon James Clear’s book, “Atomic Habits”, which has, thus far, been a thought-provoking and inspiring read. The author argues that our CURRENT successes or failures, TODAY, are “lagging measures” of our choices and behavior TO DATE. But that our current situation is an inadequate determinant of where we will be in the future. Rather, our habits and behaviors at the moment have better predictive validity, even if these have not yet begun to “show”.
He goes as far as to say (and I found this rather sobering) that we “should be far more concerned with our current trajectory than our current results”. We need to know, in our pursuits of excellence, wholeness and actualisation, whether the arrow is pointing up or down. And then intervene or maintain, with that knowledge.
If we’re in our smallest skinny jeans, but stuck in a spiral of cake, pizza, bread and wine, in due course – even if not immediately – this will manifest, possibly dramatically, profoundly and seemingly quickly. Similarly, even if we’re not happy with our current “measurements”, if we persevere with an effective eating plan and lifestyle, there will come a time when this will suddenly seem to have paid off. The same principle can be applied to almost any facet of life: career, education, relationships, finances, health, etc. The trick seems to be to push through and exercise tenacity when results are slow to fruition and the progress feels clumsy and lacklustre. And to dig in HARDER if we’re currently in a good place, but as a result are given to complacency and indifference.
He also argues, in a spirit of hope and consolation, that even minor behavioural adjustments, consistently applied, can go a long way towards ensuring success. That it’s what we do regularly and consistently, even if not perfectly, that will yield great results. I won’t lie: just this idea has guided my meal choices even today, whilst holidaying with my family in Cape Town. I’m wearing XS Freddy jeans, but am recommitted to staying in them, and keeping that arrow-head pointing “down”. The temptation is often to exhale BECAUSE we’re winning TODAY, but just that thinking can create mayhem and disappointment in the medium and long-term.
How are YOU doing, whether with a weight-loss journey, or something else..? Which direction is your arrow facing, irrespective of that construct’s literal reading today? I feel really challenged by the idea of accepting today’s “reading” as nothing other than a culmination and manifestation of behaviour-to-date. And then being incredibly mindful and careful with what TODAY’s behaviour may mean for next week, month and year.
What about you?
Much love,
Debbie
