Crotchety Old Man's Monologue
Or 'How You Do Anything Is How You Do Everything' and Other Self-Righteous Bullshit
Let’s start with this ubiquitous quote that’s been floating about in the ethos, bouncing around, like a whispered message, from one half-listening ear to the next. The original quote goes like this:
How you do the little things is how you do everything. — Sharon Pearson
Throw in a little hustle culture and you get this:
How you do anything is how you do everything. — Sharon Pearson + Hustle culture distortion
Not what she meant and complete B.S.
How about this for a quote?
Respect time. Respect the task. Be efficient. - Crotchety Old Man
You Are Not an Unlimited Source of Boundless Energy
This is how I make my coffee at 6:30 am every morning.
(A ten-step process. Feel free to skip to the next part if you don’t give a crap about coffee. Be efficient.)
I fill my pour-over, gooseneck, coffee kettle with room-temperature water strained through a charcoal filter.
I set the kettle on the stove, on the front left burner, and turn the heat to medium.
I align the thermometer so that the bottom of the dial is parallel to the edge of the stove.
I remove my Brazilian or Peruvian coffee beans, from their air tight container, and fill my coffee grinder to the top.
I give it two 15-second burst grindings until the grains are medium fine.
I take out my favorite coffee cup and settle the dripper sleeve over the top of the cup
I place a filter in the dripper and pour the ground coffee into the dripper. Should be about 26 grams of coffee.
When the kettle hits 198 degrees I turn off the stove and slowly pour the water into the dripper working from the edges in.
Let it drain.
Repeat until the cup is full.
I’m a little obsessive about my morning coffee. I pay attention to detail. My wife comes down and fills her cup with a Duncan Donuts blend right out of the pre-set Mr. Coffee maker. I’m still gently pouring water around the edge of the dripper waiting for a full cup. She gives me a little hip nudge and takes her cup to the table and starts reading the paper to me.
But this is not how I do everything. It’s not how I do most things.
Don’t have the time. Nor do I want to put that much detail into everything I do.
I’m selective.
Our Best Is Not Always Our Best
I want and need daily exercise. I think of it more as movement. Walk around the block. Go through a bodyweight exercise routine in the backyard. Or just stretch like a cat. I get in a minimum of 30 minutes a day of exercise.
On days I go to JiuJitsu class it’s much more.
It’s not always the best I can do. I could track my workouts, measure my body fat, and create a micro-biotic diet that promotes muscle growth.
I don’t. Nor do I have the desire to become a workout king. I just want to be healthy. A 30-minute-a-day routine works. It keeps my weight in balance, my heart pumping, and my joints working.
It’s what I need.
It’s my best for today. But it’s not the best I could do.
Sometimes it’s best to just get it done. I have other tasks to be accomplished today that need my full focus.
Please No Half-Ass Need Apply
This is not an excuse to do shoddy work. It’s important to care about everything you do. I care about getting in my 30-minute workout every day. The workout itself doesn’t matter to me. It’s quantity over quality. If I’ve forgotten, I get out of bed and do pushups at 2:00 am. I do my best at keeping the routine going.
You only have so much energy. Choose. Can’t do everything perfectly.
I’m an Anti-Manifestor
I’m all for positive thinking. Study after study has shown that a positive growth mindset helps your mental health and improves your opportunity for success.
But this whole manifest it, think about it, and it will come stuff is crazy.
See yourself living in abundance and you will attract it. It works every time with every person.— Rose Byrne
Ugh! Come on now. How about this for a quote?
It’ll never work. Not one time. Not for anybody. — Crotchety Old Man
It doesn’t work because there is no action. We’re not Aladdin rubbing our magic lamp and asking for what we think we want.
We get what we visualize by working for it. Making a plan. Starting small. Taking step after step towards the end goal.
Sure you can think about it, and imagine it, but if that’s all you do you’ll still be on your couch, surrounded by pizza boxes, wondering where your life has gone 20 years from now.
Working and learning will move you towards abundance. And as you work your definition of abundance will change. As you study your definition of abundance will change. Because it will no longer be a pipe dream. It will be your goal.
Through hard work and study you will begin to understand what abundance really is.
And it doesn’t appear to you while you are home visualizing your future.
A Journey Through the Real World
Think of life as a journey to some faraway land called Eden-ville. There’s no straight path. It’s torturous. And long. Crazy characters litter your path and shove you this way and that.
Some pushing you forward others draggin’ you back.
These sayings are meant to be guide posts giving us a little nudge one way or another. Helping keep us on track, keep us going, and away from all the pleasure-tempting inns we pass along the way.
Problem is, these sayings are built around general truths.
General truths may include facts but they also include beliefs and emotions and the specific experiences of the person making the quote.
Facts are empirical. They cannot be disputed and have been proven through research and quantifiable measures. They cannot be summed up in a line or two.
General truths are not facts.
Let’s Balance Our Faith With a Little Skepticism
I do love a good quote. But I question them.
Do they make sense?
Do they apply to me?
Are they measurable?
Do they help me move forward towards my goal?
Do they create movement?
When it comes to faith it is easy to get swept away onto one extreme or another. Be careful. Asking questions is always good.
Use these mini-stories as nudges.
Don’t use them as a tenet.
Think About It…
I’m not political. I do vote in every election. Local and national. I do not vote along party lines. I vote according to my beliefs on issues. I vote for progress. We do not go backwards as a society regardless how it might feel at any given time.
Usually my voting is guided by my readings.
I try to educate myself.
A couple of Substacks I read:
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - great basketball player and writer
Shan’t We Tell the Vicar - because I like movies and fun
A couple of books to read:
It Can’t Happen Here - Sinclair Lewis
Yes. It. Can. Happen here.
Example:
Last Florida election - 49% of registered Democrats voted (2.6 million registered voters did not vote). 64% of Republicans voted. De Santis won by a substantial 1.5 million votes. (ref. Palm Beach Post, Why most Dems didn’t vote last year, Chris Persaud)
That’s a lot of apathy.
A Brief History of Seven Killings: A Novel - Marlon James
Just a fun, crazy, thought-provoking writer.
Let me give you three to read before you start your next business:
the dip - Seth Godin
Grit - Angela Duckworth
How to Change - Katy Milkman
And read them in that order.
Have fun.
Do It…
Meal I’m preparing for my family this weekend:
Ok. So we’re having a family brunch.
Enjoy.
Ciao.