Beating procrastination with dessert
A sure fire way to live in flow
Hello Hedge Schoolers,
This week's inquiry is inspired by a story of my time in Brasil. My wife (fiance at the time) and I spent two and a half amazing years living in Sao Paulo, Brasil about fourteen years ago. During that time, I worked at the largest International School in South America as a Physical Education teacher. I was one of three dedicated Junior School PE teachers and within that team, I worked with a German/Brasilian man called Jorge. Jorge was an enigma. He never really spoke. Always looked mad. To be honest, I was a little afraid of him. All that being said, he wailed when I left. I handed him a copy of Brasil's most famous contributions to the literary world, and my favourite book, The Alchemist, and he embraced me, well more like manhandled me into a deep, long embrace. He held me as our bodies sweated in the humidity and he sobbed. And he sobbed.
I miss Jorge.
But that's not the story I want to share. The story that sparked my inquiry this week related to lunch. Being an American International school, lunches were provided. Yep. Every day we were served a buffet of amazing Brasilian and American food. So good. We would line up and fill our plates endlessly and then like you see on the TV, we would hope that our social status would grant us a table to sit at. Jorge always beckoned me to come to sit with him.
No words needed. Just grunts and gestures.
As the lunch experiences piled up, I started to notice a strange pattern. Jorge really loved dessert. Really loved it.
And he always ate dessert first.
Always. At first, I thought it was a blood sugar thing.
Nope.
Then I thought that he just must really like that particular dessert.
Nope. He liked them all.
On one particular day, Jorge was doing the talking thing and so I used this as my opportunity to ask him why he ate dessert first.
His response?
Why wait? Dessert is the best part of the meal so I start with it first. At least that way, I can always guarantee I'll get time to get to the part I love the most.
Boom.
Why put off the joy!
Live into it right in this very moment.
Anchored in shoulds
But for most of us, we've been taught that dessert is after the main meal. We SHOULD eat it last. Jorge follows his highest excitement, which just happens to be a delicious dessert. It is what Derek Sivers would call a "heck yeah". There is power in leaning into our highest excitement. It satisfies our yearning for novelty, feeds curiosity, and reduces frictions for momentum.
But the obliger in us gets anchored in shoulds. Chained to the fallacy that there is only one way. The supposed right way.
But moving towards our highest excitement draws our attention to what is salient in our environment. It piques our curiosity. Triggers dopamine release and leads to increased motivation. Because you don’t need much motivation to do something you want to do.
So give it a whirl.
Look at your "Should Do" list and lead with the one that you are most excited about. Start there. If nothing jumps out at you, that is also pertinent learning. What would be required to pique your interest? What would make this task interesting? How can you drive up your excitement?
Leading with our highest excitement leans us into the moment. We trust in the spontaneity that arises. Trust in our intuition to guide us. Give in to the serendipity that arises as we surrender to moments.
So be like Jorge
Eat your dessert first!
(Man hugs and sobbing optional)
Much love,
Steve