A Secret

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secret1

 

SHHH.

I’m going to tell you a secret.  You don’t have to act on it – but you can.

Mike Caro told it to me.  He’s pretty famous, although only in his circle.  He has written some books, is a regular contributor to magazines, and runs  a website http://www.poker1.com/  .  He didn’t tell me in person, but he told me through some of his articles.

Mike is a poker player and teacher.  One thing he has discovered is that most serious poker players have a pretty good idea of how to play.  But they don’t play their best all the time.  They get tired, or bored, or emotional.  That’s when they make mistakes they know they shouldn’t make.

There is something similar that happens in the daily transactions people make.  They know what they SHOULD do, but they do something they SHOULDN’T do.  Buy the Starbucks coffee or make their own.  Get take-out or make dinner at home.  Grab that candy bar in the checkout line or not.  Buy a book or get it at the library.  They deviate because they are tired, or bored, or emotional.  They are making mistakes they know they shouldn’t make.

Mike told me the secret.  And now I will tell you.

It’s OK to do your best and make the decisions that you know you should make.  Every time.  You can just pass on the chance to make mistakes that you know you shouldn’t make.

It’s simple and profound.  But few people do it.  Very, very few people do it.

But the Independent Penguin makes it a habit.

 

 

Find a Way

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NYAD 1978

 

In the volume 49, issue 9 copy of Sports Illustrated (August 28, 1978) there was a story about a 28 year old swimmer who tried to make the 110 mile swim from Cuba to Florida.  The picture that heads this post was taken from that article.  That’s the young Diana Nyad in closeup on the right.

The journey is incredibly tough.  There is the sun and weather on the open sea along with the cold salty seawater.  Not to mention sharks and jellyfish, too.  In fact no one had ever made the trip without a shark cage to swim in.  Until Diana just did it. http://www.diananyad.com/

At 64.  On her fifth attempt.  Almost exactly 35 years from the time that SI article was published.

When asked what her mantra was for the trip, she replied that it was “Find a way”.

What a mantra!  FIght through each pain and trouble. Keep going.  Don’t let anything stop you. Dig deep.   Just keep moving.  Push forward.  Find a way.  FIND A WAY.

She (and her team) implemented an electric field to ward off sharks without a swimming cage, developed a cream to ward off jellyfish stings, developed a silicone mask that could protect against nighttime jellyfish stings (although this ended up bruising her mouth badly), developed silicone protection for her feet and hands to protect against jellyfish,  implemented a guide system to keep her from  becoming disoriented and veering from the path to shore, had mobile medical monitoring, mobile feeding, and jellyfish and shark sweeping lookouts.  Lots of hurdles to overcome – many found through the failed journeys of her past.  But for each, they found a way to overcome the problem.

FInd a way.

When asked what the hardest part of the 53 hour journey was, she replied that it was the first night when the jellyfish came out.  It was when the trip had just started!  She had to fight through that, and realize that it was just the beginning.  That she had a couple of days to go.  She had to find a way to continue even though she knew the pain that was coming.

Find a way.

An iceberg isn’t easy to construct for a penguin.  There are many problems to overcome and unexpected hurdles that arise over the course of a lifetime and vicissitudes of the economy and markets.  The Independent Penguin thanks Diana Nyad for the inspiration to always find a way.

 

An Experiment in Overcoming Hedonic Adaptation

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oxo potato peeler

 

A few months ago I found myself in possession of $20 in Kohl’s cash.  These are time-limited coupons that Kohl’s occasionally gives customers when making a purchase.  In this instance, the cash expired on the same day I found myself near their store.

I made a conscious decision to try to use that Kohl’s cash to improve the quality of my life on that day going forward.  It was a way to challenge myself.  The rules were simple: whatever was purchased had to be paid for entirely with the coupon and it also had to have the potential to permanently increase my daily life happiness.  As I wandered the aisles, each item was evaluated for potential to increase my life happiness.

As you know, hedonic adaptation prevents a permanent increase in happiness levels with most purchases.  Once the rush is gone, the happiness level returns to the natural set point.  In a sense, this experiment was fighting human nature itself.

As I reflected on my daily routine, it came to my attention that a daily irritation that I had gotten used to was the frustrating ordeal of peeling potatoes with our cheap all-metal potato peeler.  It hurts a little to hold, the blade swivels 180 degrees (and is therefore only in cutting position part of the time), and I was constantly bumping my knuckles on the cutting board.  Thanks to hedonic adaptation, this was just a normal part of my routine.

In the kitchen section I found a nice Oxo peeler like the picture on this post.  It has a soft handle and the blade always faces the potato.  I decided to get it and replace my old peeler.

It’s been two months and so far the experiment has worked great.  I am grateful for the new peeler every time it’s used.  Part of the happiness comes from how comfortable the new peeler is to use and part comes from the lack of pinched fingers and bruised knuckles from the old peeler.

In my mind, the Independent Penguin will optimize all his expenditures to provide a continuous improvement in his level of happiness and have no expenditures that don’t provide such a benefit.