Vote Early and Often
We should stop worrying about outcomes we can’t control and instead focus on the inputs we can. Input is much more certain than outcome. When it comes to living the life you want, making sure you allocate time to living your values is the only thing you should focus on.
Nir Eyal, Indistractable
We’re all just a bunch of liars.
We pray for serenity, courage, and wisdom. But we seek out stress, competition, and perfectionism.
Armed with our SMART goals and a never-ending to-do list we keep rolling the boulder up the hill of success.
We tell ourselves if we could just reach the top of the hill then we would matter and we could relax.
But we never arrive.
So, we berate ourselves for falling short and not trying hard enough.
Most of the important things in life cannot be obtained directly.
I am not going to become fluent in Italian tomorrow no matter how much passion and willpower I have today.
I’m not going to restore the balance of my retirement account to its peak value by the end of the week.
Most important goals can be reached only after considerable time pursuing them.
Many of our important goals also are influenced by factors beyond our control.
While we have no direct control over results, we do have control over how we spend our energy and our time.
Every day we are voting for the kind of person we want to become.
This is not like the elections coming up next month, however.
For that, we must be registered, and we must decide to cast our vote.
But every day we vote for the kind of person we want to become — even if we don’t intend to vote.
We vote with our time and our energy.
Occasionally, we think we “have no choice.”
But we always have a choice.
It’s just that in those situations, our choices are clearly connected to our values.
If I want to be a good parent, I will put my child in a car seat.
I have a choice, but I have only one appropriate option.
Unfortunately, most choices are not that obvious.
We don’t think about the votes we are casting when we settle in for a night of Netflix.
We don’t consider how the votes we cast in our 40s will impact the options we will have in our 80s.
We don’t realize that a vote for an expensive pair of shoes is a vote against that vacation we hope to take next year.
The election for the person we want to become is the one time it is appropriate to vote early and often.
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