Some Answers Are Obvious
March 20, 2009 by: Dave Ozment
Recently a Russian man died on stage after competing and winning a pancake eating contest. A witness said of the contestant “He had really enjoyed the pancakes but then he started foaming at the mouth and went down like a sack of stones.”
Initial reports indicated that the exact cause of death is not clear.
Now, I’m with Colin Cowherd (where I initially heard this story) on this one …uh, the cause of death may have had something to do with the 42 pancakes he just wolfed down. You think?
Sometimes the answers to our biggest problems are right in front of us.
Show me a fat person who won’t give up their pint-of-ice-cream-a-day habit and I’ll show you someone not really interested in losing weight. Show me a broke person who won’t address their reckless credit card spending and I’ll show you someone who will continue their hopeless financial struggles.
Cause/Effect is a scientific principle for a reason. GIGO is a computer programmer’s credo for a reason.
This is not to say that we’re bad people or that we’re hopelessly lost. We’re all human and unless our poor behavior is given to dangerous extremes – 42 pancakes?!? – our flaws can test our mettle while providing an obvious path to improvement.
What is the most significant obstacle or area in need of improvement in your life today? Are you doing more to reinforce this status or to attack it?
In war, the surest way to defeat an enemy is to sever their supply lines. What structures or habits do you have in place that support your deficiency and how can they be re-tasked to help you overcome this deficiency?
One step back and two steps forward or addition by subtraction may be just the clichés you need. Take stock of your weakness and assess how you support this weakness. Then deconstruct this infrastructure and replace it with new more productive patterns and habits.
Photo By: stuartbc
Your Turn – If you enjoyed this article, I would personally appreciate it if you would consider commenting below and/or subscribing to our Free Updates via email or RSS updates. Thanks!
Related Articles I enjoyed:
10 Steps to get you out of your comfort zone
This article has been featured in the Blog Carnival – Learn The Basics of Investing – Edition #197 of Carnival of Personal Finance. Hosted by Four Pillars.
Einstein said that!
Steven@hundredgoals.com’s last blog post..What Factors in Your Life Influence Your Goals?
Really? Am I unknowingly channelling Einstein? Cool, I’ll have to take a look into that!
Dave
When dealing with our finances, or most any area of life, Garbage in…Garbage out is the real deal. Bad habits will most always lead to bad things, and vise versa…so we need to adjust our habits, don’t we!
Great post Dave!
The Almost Millionaire’s last blog post..How I Shaved $30,000 From My Family Budget
Exactly… who was it that said that continuing to do the same things but expecting different results was the definition of insanity? That is spot on target. The idea of ’self improvement’ sounds so aspirational and opens the door for so many complexities. The reality is that we just need to fortify our weakest weakness and then next weakest and on and on.
Rather that try to reach for greatness that may not befit us, we’re much better off – and will be happier – if we simply fortify who we really are…. hmm, there’s another article in there somewhere.
Thanks for the comments – I love comments and the dialogue!
Dave