A flat map doesn’t show you the hill until your legs find it. Plans look easier on paper.
REFLECTION
WHAT THIS MEANS
Plans leave out effort, because effort does not fit on paper. A route is two inches long whether it is flat or brutal, and a revision timetable looks the same whether the subject is easy or the one that makes your head hurt. The gradient only shows up in your body, halfway in, which is where most plans quietly fall apart.
Add hills to your next plan this week. Where you have written one hour, ask which hour of the day and how tired you will be. Put the hardest thing where you have the most energy, and leave gaps, because the version of you doing the walking has legs.
A QUESTION TO SIT WITH
Which plan of yours turned out steeper than it looked written down?
MORE IN PERCEPTION & ATTENTION
- Paying attention to how you feel after hanging out with someone tells you more than how you feel during.
- People often match the energy you bring. If everyone seems cold, check the temperature you walked in with.
- Habituation is why the new shoes stop feeling new. It’s also why the bad situation stops feeling bad. Check both.
Free, with nothing to buy inside it.