A bin man in England opened up the back of his truck and found a seagull. It was exhausted, dehydrated, and about 80 miles from home. It had climbed into a bin looking for lunch. Then the truck drove off. Nothing dramatic happened. No crash, no alarm. The truck just kept going, one stop at a time, and the gull went with it. It survived, by the way. But it’s a good picture of how most of us end up somewhere we didn’t plan to be. Not one big bad decision. Lots of small ones that didn’t seem to matter. A couple of weeks ago I told you that drifting through the days is far too easy now that I’m retired. Lunch with friends. A bit of shopping. A day that somehow disappears. None of it is a problem on its own. That’s the trouble. Drift is easiest to fix early. Not 80 miles later. In my experience, willpower doesn’t fix it. It runs out about the time the truck leaves the depot. Habits fix it. The right ones keep you heading where you meant to go, without having to think about it. This is the most practical book on building them that I’ve read. Regards, P.S. It’s worth checking where you’re heading now and then. The gull didn’t, until someone opened the lid. (That’s an affiliate link.) |
