Habit rules the unreflecting herd.
William Wordsworth
It’s becoming increasingly difficult to find cover images for these articles, I’ve gotta say.
But enough of that, let’s talk improving. This Lent, as part of my desire to grow in my faith I’ve taken to ending my day with a bit of self-reflection. What did I do, how did it improve or hinder my relationship with myself / others / God, how can I work on succeeding in those places where I failed and improving those places where I did alright? You know, that sort of thing. Really basic stuff in the grand scheme of things. It’s something I’ve done on and off in the past to varied levels of success, but this time I opted to add a little something extra to the mix that’s helped quite a bit. I started writing things down.
That, too, should seem like an obvious thing to do. I don’t know why it never struck me before, but I guess this is another step along the path of continually proving the adage “what is measured is improved” correct. Oddly enough, I got the idea from professional fighting game players. I’m on a bit of a content tear trying to improve at the genre since I find the raw competition and demands of it so much fun, and one thing I noticed almost without fail was that these guys are all actively, constantly reviewing what they’ve done and noting where they find flaws. Be it matchups, their own character’s performance, how other players utilize tools differently, or some other obscure topic, they’re always writing it down to research / test later. And, I mean, of course they are. With so much to keep in mind after hours of competition, how would you remember it all without having a point of reference?
Now extrapolate that over the whole day. I remember doing this before. I’d lay down at the end of the day, try and think about the places I’d dropped the ball, come up with one or two and just think to myself – alright, let’s just be better there tomorrow. Okay, hoss, good luck there. The next day comes and starts busy, every plan falls apart and I repeat the same cycle. Nothing progresses.
Not anymore. Now I’ve got something on hand to make a quick little note of when I notice myself slipping, outright failing, or rising to the challenge. It doesn’t take much, just a couple of seconds here and there, and having that list on hand at the day’s end is unbelievably worthwhile. I do a little bit of organization and start the next day with big-picture notes on what to watch out for and how to get ahead of the game. It’s almost a personal cheat-sheet at attacking my problems and I wish I’d started this up years ago.
You’d imagine it’s disheartening to look at a day’s worth of failures. I’d be lying if I said it isn’t, at times, but that’s why I think it’s important for people to put on their successes as well. Something to focus on keeping up rather than shutting down. We can only dog ourselves so much, in the end. Remember, none of us are or ever will be perfect, but the goal is to keep striving. That said, for weirdos like myself, I thrive on seeing where I’ve screwed up. A never-ending pool of places to improve is like catnip. If only I had the time or wherewithal to handle it all.
So, give it a go. Keep a little pad of paper on you, have a running list on your phone; whatever method you choose, just do it. Keep it up for a month and see how it treats you. Track that progress. You might be surprised what you learn about yourself. It’s easy to pass through life without really considering the things you do that set you back because they’re habits. Can’t really get away with not noticing when you’re taking an active role in doing just that.
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Part of the purpose of this whole LEGO exercise was to find things I didn’t even know we had and be sure all of the parts of that thing were present and accounted for. Which has, naturally, become a chore, particularly where the minifigs are concerned. But, every so often I dig through the box of plans and find something like this little adidas shoe set. Why do we have this? Where did it come from? Who knows! But hey, a set is a set.
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