Working Harder to get an A

The other day, while heating up some vegetable oil to use as the dipping sauce for the artichoke I was prepping to eat, my wife (Dr. Shelley Farin) saw me place the bowl with the oil into the microwave. She asked from across the apartment, “Did you place a cover over the bowl?” I answered with a white lie, “Yes I did.” A few seconds later we heard a loud POP in the microwave. I was caught red handed! The vegetable oil covered the inside of the microwave and now I had an easily avoidable mess to clean up.

While cleaning up the mess, I shared that earlier in the day when I ate my first artichoke (Yes, I love artichokes), I did place a cover over the bowl. I said, “I actually did it earlier today so I am 1 out of 2 for the day, isn’t that pretty good?” Shelley responded, “Not really Isaac, that’s a 50%.” She proceeded, “That’s a failing grade, you have to work harder to get an A.”

Shelley is 100% correct! We do have to work harder to get an A! The thing is, often times we think that we are doing the right thing or we think that we are giving 100% effort but we are actually mistaken.

As a psychotherapist, this reminds me of many conversations that I have with clients who are working hard to seek positive healing solutions in their lives. In our sessions, we often discover that there is more that the client can be doing to achieve their goal(s) but often times things get in the way. Sometimes a simple shift in perspective can make a world of a difference; In other words, sometimes a simple change can make a difference between a 50% and a 100%.

So, for this New Year 2014, what changes are you willing to make to ensure that you are working harder to get an A?

Happy New Year to All!