Listening to Tom Peters talk about public speaking, he mentioned ‘backing into’ things; that so often, we didn’t head into something intentionally. It sparked an indirectly related thought: the thing we’re doing is rarely the thing we’re doing.
Almost always, what we’re engaged in physically is not the outcome, it’s the process. I was listening to Tom while I was walking. I don’t walk every day in order to get somewhere, just to be walking. I walk to get fit and lose weight. I walk to force myself to get out of the house into the sunshine and fresh air. I walk because it gets me away from the endless communication of the phone and computer.
Measuring how far I’ve walked isn’t precisely productive. Measuring how I feel, physically and emotionally; now that means something.
Stop and think about what you’re doing, physically; the project you’re on, the task you’re doing. Now, stop thinking about it, and think about its intended outcome. Why are you doing it? What’s the goal? Is what you’re doing (physically) really moving you in the most efficient or effective manner toward what you’re doing (outcome) ? Hopefully it is. But if you don’t stop and think about it, it’s easy to think you’re walking because you need to walk, and not because you need to be healthy.
