+1: The Most Powerful Practice (#1300)

To Get What You REALLY Want   Not too long ago, we chatted about MLB All-Star Sean Casey (The Mayor!) going 0 for 12 one season when he was batting nearly .400.    As you may recall, his coach told him that he didn't care about those numbers. What his coach cared about was whether or not he was dominating his protocol.   In that context, I asked you if YOU were going through a rough patch—perhaps feeling like you were going 0 for 12 in your Energy or your Work or your Love.   Then I gave you a couple of hugs as I playfully told you that I love ya () and… I don't ultimately care about the current state of those things.    Then I said that what I DO care about is whether or not you are working your protocol.    I asked:   Do you know who you are at your best in your Energy, your Work and your Love? Are you recommitting to being that best version of yourself every morning?   Do you know what virtues that best version of you embodies? Are you recommitting to showing up with those virtues every morning?   Do you know what specific things you DO when you're most on fire? Are you recommitting to those things every morning and then ACTUALLY DOING those things every day?   Now…   All that's nice and hopefully helpful even if it's not all that warm and fuzzy (!) but…   Let's simplify it even more.   ULTIMATELY, although it's VERY helpful to know who you are and how you show up when you're at your best in your Energy, Work and Love (which, of course, is why we architected the Heroic app to help you do exactly that!), we can simplify the game of life even more.   Let's invite some more great thinkers to the party to tell us what they think…   First, the great spiritual teacher Byron Katie tells us that there's always (!) only (!) ONE THING we need to do.    If it's doing the dishes, do the dishes. If it's doing the laundry, do the laundry. If it's taking a deep breath or going on a walk or sending that email or making that phone call or apologizing to that loved one or turning the electronics off to get a good night of sleep or … FILL-IN-THE-BLANK with whatever might be the next thing, do that FILL-IN-THE-BLANK next most important thing—however mundane or scary you may think it is.    Repeat. Over and over and over again. Ideally, with a smile… Loving What Is as you show up as your best self.   Then we have David Reynolds. He's a Zen therapist who wrote the great little book Constructive Living. What's he tell us? The SAME THING.    The question he gives us is as powerful as it is simple.   Here it is: "Now what needs to be done?"   Life feel overwhelming?    Perfect.   "Now what needs to be done?"   Still feel a little wobbly?   Perfect.   "Now what needs to be done?"   Navy SEAL sage Mark Divine echoes this wisdom. The metaphor he uses comes from the battlefield of war. When chaos shines its dark light on our world, he tells us that we need to SIMPLIFY THE BATTLEFIELD and create FRONT-SIGHT FOCUS.   In other words, what's THE next most important thing you need to do?   DO THAT.   Repeat.   Over and over and over again.   Peak performance coaches say the same thing. They tell us that elite performers maintain a "task focus" in the midst of extreme pressure. They don't think about everything that could go wrong (or right), they think about…   WHAT NEEDS TO GET DONE RIGHT NOW.   Over and over and over again.   So, yah. Even without thinking about who you are your best in your Energy, Work and Love, you can always win the ultimate game of life by doing one simple thing: Whatever that moment demands of you.   btw: We can simplify ALL THAT wisdom even further.   How about we distill ALL THE GREAT WISDOM across ALL THE GREAT WISDOM TRADITIONS into one simple word?   I tattooed it on my right arm.   ARETE.   Close the gap between who you're capable of being and who you're actually being.    Not someday.    TODAY.   Not some moment.    RIGHT NOW.   +1. +1. +1.   All day. Every day.    Especially TODAY.   Bonus points: Do it with a smile!    + + +