In 1933, an overwhelmed and annoyed girl named Frau despatched a letter to psychologist Carl Jung, asking “easy methods to reside.”
(She didn’t have any Instagram influencers to yell motivational platitudes at her, I suppose)
Jung replied:
“Your questions are unanswerable, since you need to understand how one should reside. One lives as one can.
…if you happen to do with conviction the subsequent and most important factor, you’re at all times doing one thing significant and meant by destiny.”
He was sharing the important thing to life.
It’s a part of restoration communities like Alcoholics Nameless.
It was even the title of a tune in Disney’s Frozen 2.
“The following proper factor.”
Revisiting this story prompted me to mirror on how a lot my ideas on success and progress have modified through the years.
“Success” Redefined
I’ve been doing this Nerd Health stuff for 15+ years.
Hundreds of thousands of individuals go to the positioning yearly, 50,000+ prospects have purchased stuff by way of NF, and our coaches have served 15,000+ 1-on-1 shoppers.
In that point, I’ve modified my perspective fairly a bit on “success” and “residing properly.”
I used to suppose that the one path to success required militant self-discipline following a selected plan. I by no means missed a exercise, and was unbelievably happy with this.
It didn’t happen to me simply how a lot of a privileged and simple life I lived, the place I used to be 100% in charge of my time.
(Apologies to all of the mother and father and caregivers who learn my 25-year outdated perspective!).
Now that I’m 40, and I can see the kinds of individuals we really assist with Nerd Health, I’ve modified my perspective on success and “residing properly” pretty dramatically.
Success occurs not after we discover ways to do every part completely, however as an alternative after we get higher at staying afloat even when issues go poorly.
In different phrases, success is studying to be inconsistently constant. Studying to be ok for lengthy sufficient.
And meaning, when life appears chaotic, narrowing our focus right down to “the subsequent proper factor.”
Do the Subsequent Proper Factor
A recent newsletter from writer Oliver Burkeman talked about how he’s chosen to retain a tiny little bit of sanity in an awesome world.
It led me to those sentences from writer Eckert Tolle:
“What you consult with as your “life” ought to extra precisely be known as your “life scenario.” It’s psychological time: previous and future.
…Neglect about your life scenario for some time and take note of your life.
Discover the “slender gate that results in life.” It’s known as the Now.
Slender your life right down to this second. Your life scenario could also be filled with issues — most life conditions are — however discover out when you’ve got any drawback at this second. Not tomorrow or in ten minutes, however now.
Do you may have an issue now?
After we ruminate on what already occurred, and we freak out about all of the issues that might occur or must occur sooner or later…
It’s straightforward to really feel uncontrolled and overwhelmed.
Which brings us again to that cliché resolution: “the subsequent proper factor.”
It’s a cliché solely as a result of it’s true.
We are able to zoom wayyyyyy in, and slender our focus to one thing that’s nonetheless in our management. In some conditions, sure, there’s a drawback proper now. And we are able to simply give attention to that one factor.
However in lots of different conditions, it’s usually us worrying about all the issues that could be, or the issues outdoors of our management, that retains us from taking motion on the precise issues we are able to management.
Burkeman continues:
As for telling myself I solely wanted to do the very subsequent factor… you at all times solely can do the very subsequent factor, then the subsequent, whether or not you prefer it or not.
It’s slightly unusual, really, to consult with any of those strategies as “narrowing your horizons”, as in the event that they concerned someway artificially limiting your self.
Actually, you’re simply consciously recognizing how restricted you at all times already had been.
Everyone knows how straightforward it’s for us to overcomplicate things.
And when the world looks like a dumpster fireplace, it might assist to zoom means into that subsequent resolution, the tiniest purpose, and simply do the subsequent proper factor.
It’d contain a exercise or a stroll, specializing in the subsequent meal, calling up our therapist, or finally saying no to a dedication.
If “now” is the one time that exists, then “the subsequent proper factor” is the one factor that we are able to actually do.
I’m gonna go do the subsequent proper factor for me: take a stroll.
-Steve
PS: Maria Popova has a great writeup about “the next right thing” because it pertains to her life as a author that impressed this piece.
PPS: Nerd Health is hiring a couple of distant, part-time people (particularly with versatile nights and weekends) to take inbound, scheduled calls from potential shoppers about our 1-on-1 teaching. Click here to learn more.
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