For Christmas this year, I was gifted Dopamine Nation: finding balance in the age of indulgence by Anne Lembke. I was introduced to the book through the Huberman Lab Podcast. The book pulls from the wisdom of recovering addicts for strategies to deal with a world that provides unlimited access to pleasure. As I was reading last night I came across this line: Reflecting on the trajectory of his whole life, rather than just the present moment, allowed this young man to take a more accurate inventory of his day-to-day behaviors. Prior to this the author describes that inside addiction (or pleasure) we lose our ability to have long term vision. Unable to see how our current actions can and will affect our life over a longer period of time. There is is a transition in recovery when addicts can see their actions beyond the immediate moment.
The physical calendar I set up this year has had a similar effect. Seeing the year as a whole has given a clearer perspective on the day-to-day actions that can help me accomplish my long term goals. It’s easy to let the day-to-day fires that need to put be out get in the way of the non-urgent tasks that need to be done consistently in order to reach my goals. Keeping perspective of the whole year is necessary to keep getting up even when I fall off.
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