Fighting is a complicated topic in our current times. We teach young children it is not ok to fight. We want people to fight for the things that matter, and then we fight about what things matter. We suspend teens for fighting in school. We celebrate when they fight the bully and defend those that cannot defend themselves. The emotions that rage and words that are thrown around during a fight leave scars that never heal while the bruises left from fists heal fairly quickly. The flash fire of emotions when a fight erupts are scary and dangerous. The scrapes and bumps that remain after a fight are oddly consoling and satisfying.
Fighting is weird and complicated. I'm not advocating for fighting. It needs to be corrected, disciplined, guided, and even punished.
But I am also advocating for it, I guess. It shows us what is really important to us. Maybe it isn't the act of fighting that is so problematic as much as understanding exactly when and why to fight. Fighting brings with it an energy and focus that needs to be harnessed. It uncovers an intensity that we need to be reminded is necessary sometimes.
Jim Harbaugh, the head football coach of the iconic University of Michigan, says, 'you've got to attache each day with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind.' Ok. I changed my mind. We need to fight everyday. In a world of millions of comforts and distractions, we need to embrace uncomfortable focus. Focus that is even violently intense.
Here is what it looks like to have 'fighting focus' everyday.
DO NOT SNOOZE - Did you know that there is no physiological benefit to that additional 9 minutes of sleep? I'm an early riser while still being committed to the value of a good night's sleep. However, I had a big battle a couple years ago with my snooze button. I won the battle by moving my phone into my bathroom so that when the alarm when off, I had to stand up to turn it off. The 5 seconds it takes me walk across my bedroom is enough to keep me up. Bottom line: when the alarm goes off, put your feet on the floor. Start the day fighting.
REMEMBER YOUR MISSION - First, do you know your mission? Do you have clarity on your purpose? How about your focus during this season of your life? It is hard to fight everyday without clarity on why you should be fighting. Marriages, children, the people you serve at work, your local church, and your community are all worthy purposes. You matter. You really do. Get clarity on why and keep fighting for it.
NEVER MISS DAILY DISCIPLINES - There are certain daily disciplines that I believe are 'key stone' habits that set the tone for the rest of your day. These habits center on taking time today to be involved in activities that benefit your tomorrow. Reading, studying, journaling, nutritional plans, exercising, praying, and meditating are all great examples. Make a plan to do things today that matter for tomorrow and fight to never miss them.
IGNORE THINGS THAT FLARE UNHEALTHY INSECURITY - Insecurities left unchecked are ticking time bombs in our lives. It's just a matter of time before they cause serious damage. Insecurities identified and leaned into can be catalysts for important, healthy life change. If you are going to fight every single day in a healthy way you have to be self aware enough to know what flares your unhealthy insecurities and consciously fight against those things. This has become extremely important in the social media age. A clear example is how to you respond to the success and good fortune of others around you? Far too often we fall into unhealthy comparisons that saps our desire to bring our best effort to the people and things we actually have a responsibility towards. We have to fight against this. It is hard to fight when we are distracted by unhealthy insecurities.
RESPOND POSITIVELY TO NEGATIVE CIRCUMSTANCES - The oldest known written manuscript may be the book of Job in the Old Testament of the Bible. There is a verse in this ancient manuscript that tells us 'man is born into trouble.' (Job 5:7) Life is just hard. In order to fight forward everyday, you have to develop a habit of responding positively to negative circumstances. I'm not talking about a naïve optimism that borders on insane. I'm talking about the ability to say 'This is really hard and unfair' and 'I can do this' in the same breath. I wrote about realistic positivity here. Winston Churchill put it best when he said, 'We didn't come this far because we're made of sugar candy.' An important part of fighting is the ability to take a punch. Life will punch and we need to stay in the fight.
LOOK FOR WAYS TO PRODUCE - I believe that we are most fulfilled when we produce things of value despite living in a society that encourages us to consume. 'We bring order to the chaos of our lives with the truth of productivity.' as Dr. Jordan Peterson would say. Consider the satisfying feeling of a car you just cleaned, a lawn you just mowed, or a paper you just completed. It shouts to our DNA that producing is the way to live our lives. Fight to produce something of value every single day.
BEWARE OF HOW MUCH YOU CONSUME - We live in the consumer age. Marketing is almost always geared toward what you can consume. Social media is built on attention consumption. Our consumption habit cannot be greater than our production habits. Consider it much like tracking calories. If you consume more than you produce, you quickly become overweight, sluggish, and unhealthy. Fighting everyday requires us to control our consumption to production ratio.
I tend to write in absolutes using words like 'always'' and 'never' a lot. Absolutes tends to make things very black and white and that forces people to take sides and form strong opinions. Do not get distracted by my absolutes. Life has a lot of gray in it. As national champion basketball coach, Billy Donovan, once said, 'Do not adopt everything I'm saying, just adapt one small thing as you make progress at your own pace.'
Keep on, keepin' on, everyone.
‘Bite Down and Don’t Let Go’ is a collection of writings on being intentional about life in a way that produces great persistence. Read about it more here.
Comments
Post a Comment