We are what we repeatedly do
blog“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.”
Aristotle
We are what we repeatedly do has been my mantra of late. Every time I catch myself cutting corners or trying to multitask, I tell myself: we are what we repeatedly do.
Cutting corners, in this context, means doing something badly once even though you will have to do again later. For instance, I have a terrible habit of leaving mugs and plates in odd places, even though I know perfectly well where they belong. You think that you’re saving time, but it actually takes longer.
Multitasking sounds like a win-win situation: you avoid the negative feelings of doing something you don’t fancy doing by simultaneously doing something else, usually something amusing or at least diverting. An example of this is checking your email when talking on the phone. Another would be listening to a podcast whilst walking or washing up. Unfortunately, neuroscientists tell us, the brain is incapable of multitasking. Instead, it switches quickly between the two tasks, never fully engaging in either. This sounds good when it comes to things we don’t like, but it instils a bad habit that prevents you from engaging fully when you’re doing things you like.
We are what we repeatedly do.