by matt on April 12, 2010
in health
This morning, I stepped on the scale. I set a record for 2010! It was the highest number yet! Huzzah!
…or, no. Wait.
Something needs to be done about this. I prefer to use golf scoring when my weight is involved (the lowest number wins) but at this rate, my ego is starting to wish that higher numbers are a good thing. I need to intervene before it’s too late.
Baseline!
My first thought was to baseline my current weight and then compare future measurements against today’s weight. The problem is that if I lose 10 pounds, I’ll think that’s great when in reality I’d like to lose double that number. The risk with looking backwards is that my progress will be good but maybe not good enough.
Goals!
I flipped the equation and thought about setting a goal (let’s say: lose 20 pounds) and then compare my progress against that. The problem? If I don’t make enough progress, then I feel like I’ve fallen behind. Thus, I’d always need to be readjusting my goals as life throws curveballs at me that throw off my progress towards the goal (travel, celebration with friends, etc).
Now.
Breaking habits is the key to any personal change. Looking back to a baseline helps me understand what habits create the problem I want to solve. Looking ahead to a goal helps me understand what habits I must create to resolve the problem.
The thing I realized yet again is that the answer to my problem is always and eternally found right here, right now. My habit is enacted now, not in the future and not in the past. The only thing that matters is what I do now and that it fits in between that past habit I am breaking and that future habit I am establishing.
Unfortunately, right now, things kind of suck.
I’m tired this morning, but let’s see if I can make this both readable and brief…
I’m reading the book Cosmopolitanism a second time. I’m happily surprised by it because it is filled with common sense about getting along with the strangers we meet every day.
A fundamental argument Appiah, the author, makes is that values are not created by individuals. Values are created by communities and only find meaning in communal life. Values are, in his terms, a conversation.
The funny thing is that most cultures share the same values. But conversations are difficult. So people who agree upon a value still wind up in a disagreement because people:
- Don’t share the same set of values (overlapping sets, but not identical)
- Use the same value concepts in different ways, causing confusion
- Give different weights to the importance of shared values
During conversations about value-related topics, people get bogged down in the mechanics of the conversation (hampered by the three items Appiah lists) and bogged down by talk of individual moral opinions, rather than note the differences and constructively move onwards in support of the agreed-upon shared value.
Practically speaking, ‘the conversation’ is good stuff as long as Appiah’s three ‘gotchas’ are kept in mind. Doing so keeps the focus is upon what is shared and then upon how shared concepts can be used constructively.
And, keeping the three ‘gotchas’ in mind means that discussing the finer points of individual opinion allows the individual to better understand their own opinions by hearing the opinions of others while understanding the limitations of such discussion.
And, of course, the better you understand your beliefs (and the strengths/weakness of your assumptions) the more often you can act in accordance with those beliefs. That’s integrity.
