T.H.U.R.S. #3

Hola and welcome to The Summit, my biweekly newsletter where I share my unfiltered thoughts on navigating the peaks and valleys of adulthood.

My mission is to question everything, grow every day and have fun along the way. The Summit’s mission is to invite you to do the same.

Today: T.H.U.R.S. #3

Thoughts:

• Something light:

Parkinson’s Law: the idea that work will expand to fill the time allotted for its completion.

What does this mean? Here is an example:

I remember one of my university professors always scheduled his assignments to be due at 4pm. When a student finally asked why they weren’t due at midnight (like most other classes), he simply said he was sick of seeing everyone ruin their sleep by handing in their assignments at 11:59pm. Apparently 90% of submissions would come in after 11:30pm - and let’s be real, we’ve all been there🤣!

Yet, when the assignments were due at 4pm, they were all handed in on time - just the same. Because more often than not, deadlines allow people to procrastinate and wait until the last minute.

So, the takeaway here: question your deadlines. Does that task really need to take that long?

• Something heavy:

I loved this analogy proposed by Bill Perkins in his podcast episode on Modern Wisdom:

Tools can be used to build a house the same way money can be used to build fulfilment. They need a competent handler.

i.e. You could give me all the tools in the world, and I still probably wouldn't be able to build a house, because I am no builder.

The takeaway: stop JUST chasing money, also chase knowledge on how you can use your money to effectively build more fulfilment in your life.  

For further reading, I would suggest Perkins’ book: Die With Zero.

Highlights:

My favourite thing I learnt this week: Role-based planning

I was working on my weekly to-do list this week and wanted to finally trial out ‘role-based planning’ - one of Stephen Covey’s many gems in his book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

Similar to what I mentioned in an article a couple of weeks ago (writing a personal mission statement), Covey suggests that you identify the primary roles in your life. For example: son/daughter, brother/sister, friend, partner, student/professional, athlete, scholar etc.

Now instead of thinking about your long-term goals for each role (as you do when writing a mission statement), set weekly goals for each role.

As he explains, how do you expect to achieve your long-term goals if you don’t set any short-term goals?

Your weekly goals don’t have to be anything crazy; it could be something as simple as phoning a relative. The most important thing is that you do something for each major role!

The most common mistake people make is pouring too much time into any one role. This could be the guy who is too busy working to spend time with his family, or the girl that becomes obsessed with her new partner and leaves her friends in the dust.

Keeping these roles in mind when you plan out your week makes it really clear how you are spending your time and allows you to adjust as necessary! Covey even suggests tallying the number of hours you plan to spend in each role before you get started 💪.

Uplift:

Something uplifting that I stumbled across and want to share: Honk if you love America!

Last week I touched down in Montana, USA, and the first thing I saw driving away from the airport:

Surely I can’t be the only one who finds this hilarious!

Reflect:

A question I asked myself this week:

❓️What daily actions of mine do not align with my personal mission statement? How can I fix this? 

💁‍♂️ Uhh… there are a few:

• Staying up unnecessarily late binge-watching TV (especially when it eats into my sleep)

• DOOM SCROLLING (aimlessly scrolling social media)

• Not making time for daily exercise (like a dog, I need walking everyday)

💁‍♂️Go over Atomic Habits and put some systems in place to fix these!

Summit

A challenge I set myself: Man Up?

As some may know, I have moved back to Fernie BC (aka God’s country)! The land is lush, the mountains are majestic, and the sun is out - but so are the BEARS.

And like any reasonable Aussie, I am terrified. Although I have been reassured many times that the likelihood of an attack is extremely rare, going on my regular morning runs has been a HUGE CHALLENGE. Especially when I run into signs like these:

At the time of writing, I am still kicking on - no encounters yet - but next week’s challenge has me quite nervous…

Can you see the mountain I am pointing at? She is called ‘Middle Sister’, the middle peak of the ‘Three Sisters’. This weekend, five of us are going to hike up, camp overnight, summit for sunrise, and hopefully return safely the next day.

Sounds wonderful right? Well, it is, except for the fact that we will be DEEP into bear country and I will probably get ZERO sleep listening to every sound creeping through the forest. To be clear, I am being quite dramatic (I am more excited than I am nervous) but it is hard to stay calm after watching Backcountry.

Wish us luck ;)

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