I recently enjoyed reading Tom Rath’s book Eat Move Sleep: How Small Choices Lead to Big Changes. The book is about how to engage in small behaviors that lead to a long, healthy life. Some of these behaviors are things that a lot of us have heard, but don’t practice.
One of the most powerful suggestions in the book is to ask “is this a net gain, or a net loss?” whenever you eat something. In other words, is this food – on the whole – contributing to my being more healthy, or taking away future health? Simply asking this question when considering food options has helped me tremendously.
I think the same question applies to much of the behavior that we engage in each day. Stopping to ask “is this a net gain, or a net loss?” before doing something can help you escape impulsive or compulsive action.
– Is having this conversation a net gain, or a net loss?
– Is checking my e-mail for the next 20 minutes a net gain, or a net loss?
– Is choosing to surf Facebook instead of creating something a net gain, or a net loss?
– Is staying up late to finish this project a net gain, or a net loss?
It’s certainly something to consider when you are making decisions about your day. Whatever you’re doing after reading this, ask yourself if it’s a net gain, or a net loss.
Over time, if you do more things that are a net gain, you will – by definition – make progress on your goals.
