Smaller Circles

We tend to overestimate what we can do in the short term, but underestimate what we can do in the long term by doing a little bit at a time. I tried to attribute that quote but it seems to be one that has just become part of what people say. Gretchen Rubin, author of 'The Happiness Project' gives practical suggestions of how to implement it. Journals are often suggested as a good tool for positive psychology. They are intimidating though. In my own experience I tended to journal when I was struggling so my journals gave a warped impression of what had been going on. I also wrote 'stream of consciousness' so it depended which member of the arguing committee in my head had just had a cup of coffee and which ones were taking a loo break as to what got put down. Gretchen suggests a one sentence journal. It is like sending yourself a tweet or a text. My cousin Jenny sometimes does lists like this and literally tweets them or puts them on facebook - she did 365 days of things she was grateful for and 100 reasons she was proud to be South African. Naturally journals to yourself could be more personal. I like the idea of it being so small that all it really needs is a flash of memory and you can do it quickly. There is no dependence on feeling 'in the mood' or deprioritisation because other things come up that day. It just needs to become a habit.

TED cottoned onto the fact that our concentration spans aren't what we would like them to be. Long lectures are a struggle. Keeping talks less than 20 minutes means we can focus on a wide variety of subjects. In the 'Art of Learning', Josh Waitzkin talks about a related idea he calls 'making smaller circles'. He describes how life often distracts us or doesn't allow us all the time we need to do things. In Martial Arts, you may learn how to deliver a perfect punch but no skilled opponent gives you the time to do that. In business, you may develop a wonderful pre-meeting routine if you normally get stressed and don't get your point across. Then a meeting gets scheduled at the last minute. Making smaller circles involves slowly getting the body used to what it is you want to do, and then shrinking it while maintaining the core purpose. A punch may then be over a very short distance. A pre-meeting relaxation sequence may become just a couple of minutes. TED talks are smaller circles for busy people who want to know more about what others are doing. One sentence journals are smaller circles for people who want to spend more time introspecting and focusing on self development.

A wonderful smaller circle for exercise is the Sun Salutation. This short yoga sequence is usually used as a warm up for other postures, but if you are struggling to get exercise into your day, the effects of a couple of rounds of Sun Salutations will add up over time. At school, I recall an older student talking to us towards the end of rugby season about how to train for the upcoming athletics season. We were moaning about how difficult it was to motivate ourselves to train. His suggestion was 'walk or jog instead'. If you were going somewhere and there was the option of going by car (or if we had had the tube, I guess the same would have applied) then rather walk. If you were going just a short distance, put in a burst of speed.

I am definitely opening myself up to 'practice what you preach' pressure here. I tend to take more of a hot or cold, on or off approach to things. If I don't have time, I don't make smaller circles, I just don't do it. Two of the key things I am trying to learn at the moment are Piano and French. Piano has been going along great. I am doing a pretty mean 'Red Red Wine' and can make my way through the Grade 1 Pieces. I am working my way back to where I was. Still very beginner level. French has been side swiped with other things. I was doing 10 new words a day and figured I would catch up later with a binge day of lots of words. That was about three weeks ago. Binge day is now becoming intimidating and probably stopping me from getting started again. A better approach would probably have been to at least do a little bit.

Using smaller circles for things that are important to you means they don't get put aside. Over time, they may expand into gaps, but even if they don't the effects will accumulate.