Do you ever find yourself making a bad decision, but shrugging it off while telling yourself "it's not a big deal?" If you’re like me, you probably use the line "it's fine" before moving on.
It actually happened again the other day at the park. While squeezing all my 200 pounds of pure man through the tiny children's tunnel on the playground, a little piece of paper fell out of my pocket.
It was small, barely bigger than a quarter. At first I used the "it's fine" mantra, and continued on. After all, I had to hurry to the big twisting slide that I needed to shove myself down before Norah tumbled down ahead of me.
Over the next few minutes I kept thinking about that little piece of paper, and a quote from James Clear:
"Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become."
I know that I certainly do not want to become a littering hooligan, so I shoe-horned my ass back into the tunnel and retrieved the paper.
And because of my mistakes, my whole family has to pay the price. Now, every time we leave the park each of us finds a piece of trash to throw away.
Make the choices and play the part. It's not faking it, it's doing it.
Your homework: What type of person do you wish to become? What actions will add up as votes for you being that person?
Start casting your votes.
Want to be a fit person? Make the choices a fit person makes when it comes to diet and exercise.
Want to be a good husband? Do the things that good husbands do.
Want to be a rock star? Don’t miss a single day of practice and get black out drunk in a different city every night.
Be great.