💯 TREE 370: Which competition have you entered?
One.
Alarm at 4:59 AM, no snoozing, workout until you vomit, ice shower, organic dirt smoothie, attend a Men Who Win group, write a 2000 word post on Medium, have timed purposeful interaction with each of your family members – by 7:59 AM you’ve won the day! Make sure to announce it on social media.
It could be that you are playing the I’m A Morning Person Who Likes To Get Things Done Early game. Or – and this is the thing to watch out for – you might be in the the Which Man Has The Best Morning Routine? competition. Why would you want to play something that Jocko Willink and Benjamin Hardy have already won decisively?
The Best Morning Routine competition is one of a million variations on Keeping Up With The Joneses. None of them are worth your energy. Someone will always out-Jones you.
Competitions are enticing. They have a way of feeling important even when they aren’t. Joining in requires time and energy.
Know what competition you’re in. If you find you’re playing a game you don’t want to play, get out. Don’t worry about sunk costs. Just get out and find a funner game that helps you be who you want to be.
Notice that two people can be doing the exact same thing while playing completely different games. Sometimes changing the competition you’re in requires a change of action. Sometimes it’s a change of thinking.
Two.
Donald loves looking at unusual clouds. Today he’s spotted one that looks a lot like the TREE illustration signature and copyright notice.
Three.
Important Monday morning clarification for those of us who aren’t part of the up-with-the-birds crowd: The distortion is in the song, not your head. It’s a good little groove though.
Grow slowly
Jeff
I’m not a competitive human. Not with others. However, I am always trying to improve my game. My game morphs but it’s still the challenge I have had since I can remember. Learn, act, enjoy. Broke down in the desert and was towed out. My challenge? To be full of joy throughout the 6 hour retrieval. Did I do that? Yes I did. Was it a conscious effort? Yes it was. I’m back in Tucson in my bed, writing here on Tree. Life is like a box of chocolates. I’m the only one I can control. I didn’t resist what was happening. I stayed in each moment and expanded the time. I lost nothing in the process like love, peace and joy. I won. And that’s my game. It’s quite enough. How about you? What’s your game?
Seems to me that the modern day equivalent of "Does a tree falling in the forest still make a noise etc..." is "Have you really won the day if you didn't announce it on social media." Society has encouraged us to chase and measure the wrong things... Got lots done before 6am? That's great - But also great if you got one thing done before 5pm if that is the measure that has meaning for you. If I entered a 100m race with Usain Bolt I wouldn't lose it - Because the competition I would be in is "Try to run 100 meters without falling on your face." Usain can choose his own outcome. Human beings do need validation and approval from others, it's how we're built - and helpful approval comes from folk that understand the competition you entered yourself for.