Brain Food #448
Doing just enough
Daily Brain Food.
Thoughts of the day
Productivity is not defined by the end result, but by the act of doing. James Clear wrote that atomic habits, small, daily incremental steps towards change, compound. Goals should be ambitious, but it is always important to remember that recognition does not happen overnight, it is the result of years of hard work. Toni Morrison published her first novel at 39. Rothko created his first iconic paintings at 43. Paul Cezanne’s career took off after he turned 50.
Success is not alchemy, but the art of setting realistic daily milestones while still maintaining the ability to think big. Dreaming of the impossible is perfectly acceptable, even necessary. But getting there takes time, and it is more important to take small steps in the right direction, one day at a time.
It is equally important to compare oneself not to others, but to who we were yesterday. That is the only source of truth we have, if we dare to be honest with ourselves:
“The big question about how people behave is whether they’ve got an inner scorecard or an outer scorecard. It helps if you can be satisfied with an inner scorecard.”
— Warren Buffet
As with most things, doing something is better than doing nothing. Maybe the secret of productivity lies somewhere in between; in the grey area of not doing everything at once, but doing just enough.