I had a fun talk yesterday with my co-worker Matt at Nerd Fitness about our coaching program; specifically about the importance of finding the balance between two key elements:
- “Manageable” = we can do it consistently and sustainably.
- “Meaningful” = our efforts create actual results.
If we’re trying to change some part of our life, we need to live in the sweet spot where the two overlap. Too much of one, and not enough of the other, and we end up burned out or spinning our wheels.
Let’s look at two quick examples:
If somebody wants to lose a lot of weight:
- “Drink an extra glass of water each day” is certainly manageable, but won’t result in any meaningful weight loss.
- “Eating 1200 calories a day and working out 2 hours per day is definitely meaningful for weight change, but most people will bail after two days.
- “Severely reducing liquid calories & going for a daily walk” can a good balance of the two.
If we’re trying to learn a new language:
- “Move to a foreign country and only speak that language” will result in rapid language learning, but that’s not manageable for most people with families and kids and jobs.
- “Spend 5 minutes per day on Duolingo” is manageable, but probably not meaningful enough to get to us to the place we really want to be: have a fluent conversation with a native speaker.
- “Hire a virtual tutor 1 hour per week and then practice 15 minutes per day out loud” can be a good balance of the two.
Comically, I found myself too far down the rabbit hole on “How to make this newsletter meaningful” that I forgot to make it “manageable.” Specifically, fun.
This is why it’s been a few months since I last sent out a dispatch!
Okay maybe it has something to do with the secret project and the fact that I have been playing an unhealthy amount of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (110+ hours with so much of the game left to play!).
My goal with this newsletter is to work my way towards the right amount of “Super fun for Steve to do” and provide you, dear reader, with enough value that it makes it meaningful for you to read.
I’ll leave you with something I am nerding out about this week…
Steve Nerds Out: The Bear, on Hulu
The premise: A Michelin-star chef has to move home to Chicago to take over the family sandwich shop. Well acted, amazing dialogue, feel good story, killer soundtrack. 10 episodes, 30-minutes each.
If you liked Ted Lasso and Chef and need another drama-comedy to fill that void, you’ll love this. Here’s the trailer for the first season. Along with Severance, this was my favorite new show in 2022.
The second season just came out, and it starts out with “The Show Goes On,” an absolute JAM from Bruce Hornsby.
This live version of “The Show Goes On” is so delightfully 90s, I’ve been listening to it on repeat for the past few days, and it’s got me googling the sheet music so that I can learn to play it.
Now, if you’re like “who the hell is Bruce Hornsby, Kamb?”…
- Shame on you.
- You know Hornsby. You just know THIS song of his, but you remember it from Tupac’s “Changes.”
Back to you: Is there an area of life where you’re too focused on “manageable” and not enough on “meaningful,” or vice versa?
Next, have you watched The Bear yet?
Do you also love 90s piano dudes like Peter Cetera and Bruce Hornsby?
-Steve
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