2019 saw a number of additions to my daily reminders list. Let’s take a closer look at these newest words of personal wisdom over a series of upcoming short posts.
-Rororo, calm calm calm
I pulled this one from Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir, lead singer for Of Monsters and Men. She commented during one recent performance that ‘ro’ is an Icelandic word for ‘calm’ and that their song ‘Rororo’ therefore means ‘calm, calm, calm’. She adds that it might be their only song with an Icelandic word in the title.
Helpful though Nanna’s comment were, I’m still left with the task of figuring out what it actually means. So far, I’ve simply kept ‘rororo’ around in my mind. It's been a useful reminder to keep the lid on the pot whenever I’ve felt my emotions unhelpfully boiling over.
-Do the next right thing
Recent TOA readers may recall that I used this thought as a minor refrain in this post. The line comes from Frank Reich... (I think... yeah, I'm fairly certain). He's a former NFL quarterback and current head coach of helmet football's Indianapolis Colts. 'Do the next right thing' is basically his thesis statement on mental toughness.
(Or if it isn't his thought, then it's someone else's thesis statement... sigh. Just sue me, I don't care.)
Anyway, I’ve liked this reminder regardless of its origins for the way it’s kept me focused in the face of various distractions and nonsense. Is it time to make an excuse and wallow in self-pity? Or is it time to do the next right thing?
-Lean forward, choppy strides
I rebuilt my running routine in 2019 and this reminder played an important role. It addressed my concern that I was a little too upright while running, placing extra strain on my hamstrings. I also used this reminder to keep my stride short so that my body weight was landing straight down onto my feet.
-Everyday or just once
I hadn’t given this one much thought in the few years since my first job but it’s proven useful once more in my new role. A majority of simple operational decisions come down to this idea. Should we try to eliminate all the work (through automation and such) so it never needs to be done again? Or should we try to make the daily process as painless as possible? The solutions that fall in the middle are the ones that tend to become issues again in the future.
