It was a long time ago, but I remember the two guys vividly. It was at Laurel Race Course in Maryland, late in the day, and it was the last race. In horse racing parlance, the last race is called "the get-out race" by many because it is the last opportunity for unfortunate bettors to get out of the hole in which they have dug themselves.
Anyway, these two relatively thin guys, dressed in jeans and t-shirts, were "on the rail", meaning they were as close to the track as you could possibly get at ground level. They were leaning forward on the track's shoulder-high chain link fence - the only barrier to the track - with their racing program in hand, looking about as hopeful as any two humans could possibly look - except their look was more one of "need" than hope. In other words, my interpretation of them was that they NEEDED this race, or more accurately, they needed to WIN this race. I felt rather badly because that day, I opted not to bet the last race since I thought it was a random event, and I was sticking around to watch it through my binoculars to hopefully see some trouble or excuse a horse might have for running badly today and that way, I could make a note that he might be a great bet next time he ran. So, I was very comfortable, so to speak, heading into the get-out race, whereas these two poor souls seemed to be squirming with anticipation. Their plight, as I perceived it, made me feel kind of sad.
I won't bore you with the details of the race, but I did take note of the two men as the horses neared the finish line. They were in desperation mode, slapping their racing programs against their hands, as if they were whipping their horse themselves, while yelling "Come on, Pandisco! Come ON!". My heart was broken as Pandisco's jockey had already stood up in his stirrups and was doing nothing more than trying to get the slow horse past the finish line without breaking down. Pandisco, a hopeless bum, sadly, checked in dead last. The two men turned and slowly walked away, heads down, and that was the last I ever saw of them, but I have always wondered how badly they needed ole Pandisco to win. The manner in which they had been emploring Pandisco really made me wonder if they needed this win to make a huge score and to take a big step for themselves or their families.
The point of all this is not, of course, to tell you about the two guys and Pandisco. Rather, I want to tell you how to reach your goals without relying on Pandisco or any other long shot. Because let's face it, it's not likely that we are going get lucky and make a huge life-changing score. Yeah, some people hit the lottery, bad bet that it is, but it's probably not going to be you, me, or anyone you know. Instead, like 99.9% of people that are successful, you and I are going to have to find a way to grind out our successes through preparation, opportunity, and diligence. And that's why I want to tell you about a great way - perhaps the very best way - to achieve your goals.
Compartmentalize. That's how. Look, you've heard the old saying, "Rome wasn't built in a day." And it's true. If you are going to achieve your goals, you will be far more likely to achieve them by achieving small, measurable goals that add up to the big goal, rather than trying to hit a trifecta, so to speak. Why? Because when you put your goals and achievements into little compartments, three things happen: 1) you are more likely to succeed with small goals and, therefore, your attitude and outlook are far better, 2) when you happen to fail at a small compartmentalized goal, it doesn't discourage so much that you will quit. Instead, since it's a small setback, your attitude will remain good and your resolve will remain strong, and 3) perhaps most importantly, you can analyze what you are doing right or wrong and make adjustments that will help you achieve faster.
Let me give you are very common example: you want to lose twenty pounds. You think you're doing this in a day or a week? A month? Obviously not. But when you think about losing twenty pounds it can be pretty daunting. Oh my God, how am I ever going to twenty pounds? I might die trying! But what if you compartmentalize the twenty pounds into 1.5 pound increments per week? That's rougly 4,800 calories a week that you have to consume less than your body normally uses to maintain its current weight. That's roughly 685 calories a day. That's about 230 calories a meal. That's nothing! I submit to you that if you cut down 230 calories a meal, you won't know the difference. You won't ever be hungry. Imagine that! You can lose twenty pounds and not ever be hungry! Why? Because you compartmentalized! Instead of focusing on twenty pounds or how hungry you are going to be, you are eliminating what amounts to one biscuit or donut per meal. Seriously, you can do that with consummate ease.
But it gets even better! When you start viewing things from a small, compartmentalized scope, the successes start to build. Pretty soon, you have compiled so many successes that you realize that you can't lose! Well, actually, you DO lose - you lose FAT! But you know what I mean. When it comes to weight loss, you can even compartmentalize smaller than "by the day". Try compartmentalizing by the half-day or third-of-a-day. Instead of worrying about losing twenty pounds, just focus on being successful for ONE morning. Then do the same in the afternoon. Then the evening. I am telling you, if you string a morning success together with an afternoon success, you'll be damned if you're gonna want to undo those two successes by overeating in the evening. You see how success begets success? And fascinatingly, after you have conquered 230 calories a meal, do you know what you will want to do? Yep, conquer 330 calories a meal. It will become FUN! Why? Because winning is FUN and you will be winning SO much, you will want to do it more and more! Nothing creates success more than success. So set yourself up for can't-fail small successes and they will in and of themselves create larger successes. There will be no suffering, no mental anguish, and no struggles.
Compartmentalization can apply to anything in your life in which you have set a goal. Saving for retirement? You're NOT going to get it done in a month. But how many people think, OMG, they say I need soooo much money to retire - I'll never get there, so I'm not going to even try. Maybe Social Security will still be around. (Now,THAT'S a bad bet!)
You see, the larger the goal, the more fearsome it is. Our brains tend to only think of the magnitude of the overall goal without consideration for the means to get there. If you're considering saving for retirement, start saving in very small pieces, and use the same process I described above for losing weight. You will find that taking a small piece out of your paycheck won't even be noticed. And then you will find that you can take more and more out and not even notice (sounds like a Congressional tax plan!) and pretty soon, you will have strung together so much money with so little pain that you will KNOW you are winning and you will KNOW you are going to achieve your goal. Then, you will, out of sheer desire, start to save even more! Because winning is FUN! In fact, it's so fun, it's sick! It's addicting! And it's a great way to live!
So, remember: COMPARTMENTALIZE! Trust me, it's way, WAY better than yelling, "Come on Pandisco! Come ON!!"
Anyway, these two relatively thin guys, dressed in jeans and t-shirts, were "on the rail", meaning they were as close to the track as you could possibly get at ground level. They were leaning forward on the track's shoulder-high chain link fence - the only barrier to the track - with their racing program in hand, looking about as hopeful as any two humans could possibly look - except their look was more one of "need" than hope. In other words, my interpretation of them was that they NEEDED this race, or more accurately, they needed to WIN this race. I felt rather badly because that day, I opted not to bet the last race since I thought it was a random event, and I was sticking around to watch it through my binoculars to hopefully see some trouble or excuse a horse might have for running badly today and that way, I could make a note that he might be a great bet next time he ran. So, I was very comfortable, so to speak, heading into the get-out race, whereas these two poor souls seemed to be squirming with anticipation. Their plight, as I perceived it, made me feel kind of sad.
I won't bore you with the details of the race, but I did take note of the two men as the horses neared the finish line. They were in desperation mode, slapping their racing programs against their hands, as if they were whipping their horse themselves, while yelling "Come on, Pandisco! Come ON!". My heart was broken as Pandisco's jockey had already stood up in his stirrups and was doing nothing more than trying to get the slow horse past the finish line without breaking down. Pandisco, a hopeless bum, sadly, checked in dead last. The two men turned and slowly walked away, heads down, and that was the last I ever saw of them, but I have always wondered how badly they needed ole Pandisco to win. The manner in which they had been emploring Pandisco really made me wonder if they needed this win to make a huge score and to take a big step for themselves or their families.
The point of all this is not, of course, to tell you about the two guys and Pandisco. Rather, I want to tell you how to reach your goals without relying on Pandisco or any other long shot. Because let's face it, it's not likely that we are going get lucky and make a huge life-changing score. Yeah, some people hit the lottery, bad bet that it is, but it's probably not going to be you, me, or anyone you know. Instead, like 99.9% of people that are successful, you and I are going to have to find a way to grind out our successes through preparation, opportunity, and diligence. And that's why I want to tell you about a great way - perhaps the very best way - to achieve your goals.
Compartmentalize. That's how. Look, you've heard the old saying, "Rome wasn't built in a day." And it's true. If you are going to achieve your goals, you will be far more likely to achieve them by achieving small, measurable goals that add up to the big goal, rather than trying to hit a trifecta, so to speak. Why? Because when you put your goals and achievements into little compartments, three things happen: 1) you are more likely to succeed with small goals and, therefore, your attitude and outlook are far better, 2) when you happen to fail at a small compartmentalized goal, it doesn't discourage so much that you will quit. Instead, since it's a small setback, your attitude will remain good and your resolve will remain strong, and 3) perhaps most importantly, you can analyze what you are doing right or wrong and make adjustments that will help you achieve faster.
Let me give you are very common example: you want to lose twenty pounds. You think you're doing this in a day or a week? A month? Obviously not. But when you think about losing twenty pounds it can be pretty daunting. Oh my God, how am I ever going to twenty pounds? I might die trying! But what if you compartmentalize the twenty pounds into 1.5 pound increments per week? That's rougly 4,800 calories a week that you have to consume less than your body normally uses to maintain its current weight. That's roughly 685 calories a day. That's about 230 calories a meal. That's nothing! I submit to you that if you cut down 230 calories a meal, you won't know the difference. You won't ever be hungry. Imagine that! You can lose twenty pounds and not ever be hungry! Why? Because you compartmentalized! Instead of focusing on twenty pounds or how hungry you are going to be, you are eliminating what amounts to one biscuit or donut per meal. Seriously, you can do that with consummate ease.
But it gets even better! When you start viewing things from a small, compartmentalized scope, the successes start to build. Pretty soon, you have compiled so many successes that you realize that you can't lose! Well, actually, you DO lose - you lose FAT! But you know what I mean. When it comes to weight loss, you can even compartmentalize smaller than "by the day". Try compartmentalizing by the half-day or third-of-a-day. Instead of worrying about losing twenty pounds, just focus on being successful for ONE morning. Then do the same in the afternoon. Then the evening. I am telling you, if you string a morning success together with an afternoon success, you'll be damned if you're gonna want to undo those two successes by overeating in the evening. You see how success begets success? And fascinatingly, after you have conquered 230 calories a meal, do you know what you will want to do? Yep, conquer 330 calories a meal. It will become FUN! Why? Because winning is FUN and you will be winning SO much, you will want to do it more and more! Nothing creates success more than success. So set yourself up for can't-fail small successes and they will in and of themselves create larger successes. There will be no suffering, no mental anguish, and no struggles.
Compartmentalization can apply to anything in your life in which you have set a goal. Saving for retirement? You're NOT going to get it done in a month. But how many people think, OMG, they say I need soooo much money to retire - I'll never get there, so I'm not going to even try. Maybe Social Security will still be around. (Now,THAT'S a bad bet!)
You see, the larger the goal, the more fearsome it is. Our brains tend to only think of the magnitude of the overall goal without consideration for the means to get there. If you're considering saving for retirement, start saving in very small pieces, and use the same process I described above for losing weight. You will find that taking a small piece out of your paycheck won't even be noticed. And then you will find that you can take more and more out and not even notice (sounds like a Congressional tax plan!) and pretty soon, you will have strung together so much money with so little pain that you will KNOW you are winning and you will KNOW you are going to achieve your goal. Then, you will, out of sheer desire, start to save even more! Because winning is FUN! In fact, it's so fun, it's sick! It's addicting! And it's a great way to live!
So, remember: COMPARTMENTALIZE! Trust me, it's way, WAY better than yelling, "Come on Pandisco! Come ON!!"
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