Being Less Exact

And approximately in the ballpark

I don’t know about you, but I have the tendency to live my life like a land surveyor with one of those tripods who is measuring distances down to the millimetre. And like you, I have the tendency to measure things that don’t really matter in the end. 

I would imagine that none of it matters in the end really, but the point is we have an addiction to exactness. It is commonly known as perfection but I’d prefer to shift this thinking over to exactness today. 

To be exact means that everyone reading this newsletter will not only agree with what I have to say, but will have a lightbulb go off in their head. Not happening: A great number of people will not even open it. They have decided weeks or months ago that this Elliott guy is bo-ring. 

To be exact means that similar to this newsletter, your next email to your team will be full of insight and will be correct for each person reading it. Again, it’s not happening. 

Why This Happens

The best-laid plans are quickly met with Planet Earth. Gravity pulls things that would otherwise be floating in outer space, down to the ground. This force allows me to sit in the chair and write at the current moment as the words make their way onto the page. 

And this doesn’t mean you should give up planning altogether, it just means that instead of being exact, you can ask that you be in the ballpark. In the range of potential outcomes. I will sketch out a schedule for the day, and I will be happy if things go approximately to plan. 

Try to think of all the different ways you are addicted to exactness - with the people in your life, with your creative work, with your fitness and sports. Now take the icon of the land surveyor and throw him out the window. 

Instead, we can replace the land surveyor with a good interior decorator. They pick out furniture and paints that get the home 80% there, and then when everything arrives little adjustments are made to make it right for you. 

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🎆 Elliott’s Homepage Playlist for September 🎆

My new playlist for the month of September is up for your listening enjoyment.

It starts off with Murply Slope which I recorded yesterday, and there is also Bunky Boop which I found in my archives and was never released yet.

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Thanks for reading today, enjoy an extra day off tomorrow if your nation so adheres

🧡🥯🧡

Elliott