In 1933, an exhausted and frustrated woman named Frau wrote a letter to psychologist Carl Jung, asking him “How do we live.”
(She didn't have any Instagram influencers shouting out motivational platitudes at her, I guess.)
Jung replied:
“Your questions are unanswerable, because you want to know how one should live. Live as one can.
…If you do with conviction the next and most necessary thing, you are always doing something meaningful and intended by fate.
He shared the key to life.
They are part of recovery communities such as Alcoholics Anonymous.
It even had the title of the song in Disney Frozen 2.
“Next right thing.”
Revisiting this story got me thinking about how much my ideas about success and progress have changed over the years.
Redefining “success.”
I've been doing these things from Nerd Fitness for over 15 years.
Millions of people visit the site each year, over 50,000 customers have purchased items through NF, and our coaches have served over 15,000 customers personally.
In that time, I've changed my perspective a bit about “success” and “living well.”
I believed that the only path to success required military discipline and following a specific plan. I never missed a workout, and I was incredibly proud of that.
I never thought how many A distinctive and simple life I lived a life where I had 100% control of my time.
(Apologies to all the parents and caregivers reading my 25 year old perspective!).
Now I'm 40, I can see the types of people we are In reality With the help of Nerd Fitness, I've changed my perspective on success and “living well” quite dramatically.
Success doesn't happen when we learn how to do everything perfectly, but instead when we become better at surviving even when things go wrong.
In other words, success is learning to be inconsistently consistent. Learn to be good enough long enough.
This means that when life seems chaotic, we narrow our focus on “the next right thing.”
Do the next right thing
A Latest Newsletter Author Oliver Burkman talked about how he chose to retain a modicum of sanity in an overwhelming world.
This led me to these sentences from author Eckert Tolle:
“What you refer to as ‘your life’ should more accurately be called ‘your life situation.’ It is psychological time: past and future.
…Forget about your life situation for a while and pay attention to your life.
Look for “the narrow door that leads to life.” It is called now.
Narrow your life down to this moment. Your life situation may be full of problems – most life situations – but find out if you have any problem at this moment. Not tomorrow or in ten minutes, but now.
Do you have a problem? now?
When we think about what has already happened, and we feel afraid of all the things that could happen or should happen in the future…
It's easy to feel out of control and overwhelmed.
Which brings us back to that hackneyed solution: “the next right thing.”
It's a cliché only because it's true.
We can zoom in and narrow our focus to something that is still within our control. In some situations, Yes, there is a problem now. And we can only focus on this one thing.
But in many other situations, we often worry about all the problems that might be, or problems that are beyond our control, which prevent us from taking action on the actual things we can control.
Burkman continues:
As for telling myself I just need to do the next thing…you can always only do the next thing, and then the next, whether you like it or not.
It's a bit strange, in fact, to refer to any of these techniques as “narrowing your horizons,” as if they somehow involve artificially limiting yourself.
Really, you consciously realize how limited you've always been.
We all know how easy it is for us Overcomplicating things.
When the world seems like a dumpster fire, it can be helpful to make the next resolution, the smaller goal, and do the next right thing.
This may include exercising or walking, focusing on your next meal, contacting our therapist, or Finally he says no To commit.
If “now” is the only time there is, then “the next right thing” is the only thing we can really do.
I'm off to do the next right thing for me: walk.
-Steve
note: Maria Popova has Great write-up on “The Next Right Thing.” Regarding her life as a writer inspired this piece.
pps: Nerd Fitness hires a few part-time remote people (especially with flexible nights and weekends) to take inbound and scheduled calls from potential clients interested in our one-on-one training. Click here to learn more.
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