Minute With Mallon: Chopsticks
Welcome folks! Let’s dive right in!
Something I Taught:
I was working with a group of clients recently. Part of our discussion focused on how to lengthen your life and also continue to be vibrant as the decades roll by.
One thing that came up was the need to consistently get out of your comfort zones in order to continue to grow and to keep your brain pliable. This brought up an old memory that I'd like to share with you.
When I was growing up, my mom took my sister and me to a high end Chinese place for our birthdays. It felt very exotic because restaurants like these were very unusual in prehistoric days.
One year when I was about 7 we were visiting the restaurant and the waitress handed me some chopsticks. She didn't supply instruction though, so I decided to figure it out for myself. With some practice, I got pretty good at it. BUT, I didn't hold the chopsticks the way that Asiatic people do. It was close, but not correct. It was the way a 7-year old little boy holds them. 😜
Anyway, over the years, the way I held the chopsticks became ingrained in my mind. In other words, I become Unconsciously Competent at doing chopsticks the wrong way!
No Americans ever noticed because I was close to doing it the right way, but every once in a while, a Japanese or Chinese person would say, "How do you do that?" They were amazed that I could do it the wrong way so well.
Honestly, it's a little embarrassing to say that for over 50 years I did it the wrong way.
So back in March I decided that I'd learn the right way to do it and eat at least one meal a day during the whole month of April with chopsticks. Thankfully, my beautiful wife Sandy had lived in Japan when she was younger, so we have some NICE chopsticks at home! 🥢
I went on YouTube and watched a video by a woman who taught me the right way to hold them.
It was SO difficult the first few days! I mean I was Consciously Incompetent at this. But then something strange happened.
It started getting easier!
At first I had to consciously pay attention to how I put them in my hand. My mind would want me to go back to the 7-year-old-me way. But I persisted and in the process rewired my brain to do it the right way.
I finished the month and decided to do all of May too! 61 days straight of eating with chopsticks. I can now put peanuts in a bowl and eat them almost as fast as you can picking them out with your fingers!
It was not in my comfort zone and now it is.
My desire now is to be eating in a Thai restaurant and have a waiter or waitress ask me if I'm Asian because I'm so good at this now. (Probably not going to happen! 🤭)
Anyway, we need to periodically get out of our comfort zones in order to keep our brains pliable and to not go stagnant. Look at kids - they are trying new things all the time without fear. But as we get older we slow down or stop doing this.
And we get old.
→ Question: So what comes to your mind that you'd like to try to get out of your comfort zone? Please let me know! I'm looking for the next thing myself and would appreciate your sharing your ideas with me! And remember, getting out of your comfort zone is a Very Healthy thing to do!
Something I Learned:
Maybe you're a praying person, maybe you're not. According to reliable Gallup research, "more Americans will pray in a given week than will exercise, drive a car, have sex, or go to work."
Wow!
I'm a person who prays. I do it daily, and usually many times a day. I need it in my life.
I'm currently reading a book called, "Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools." A friend of mine named Dan Reiland sent it to me. He told me that he's reading it slowly because he doesn't want it to end. What a recommendation!
So I'm reading it and came upon this passage today:
“If the Bible teaches us anything about how to pray, it says that God much prefers the rough draft full of rants and typos to the polished, edited version. C.S. Lewis said of prayer, ‘We must lay before Him what is in us, not what ought to be in us.’"
I love that!
So I don't know where you are with this. But I do know that if you have some things that you need to deal with or rant about, your Father is close by. Just shut your eyes (or not!) and have a little conversation with Him. He wants to hear about it. It doesn't matter the words you use, just talk to Him. He'll get it! 🙏
Something to Ponder:
"Prayer is the key of the morning and the bolt of the evening." - Mahatma Gandhi
Something I Saw:
Thanks for being a great part of this newsletter! I hope that these are giving you tools that will help you have a more satisfying life and to be a better leader of yourself and the people around you!
Please share this with a friend, colleague, or loved one by texting or emailing this to them: RobertMallon.com. The more the merrier and I truly appreciate it!
Until next week,
Robert
