How to avoid the ONE mistake that will derail your life

I saw a video recently that hit me.

Two little girls in a refugee camp, out in the cold.

Camera guy asks, “Where’re your jackets!?”

“We threw them in the fire to stay warm,” the girls said.

Whoa.

We threw our jackets in the fire to stay warm.

***

If you’re like me, there’s some judgment welling up. But if we’re honest, “burning the jacket” is pretty common.

• We blow up relationships to get attention

• We squeeze staff to maximize returns

• We don’t want to risk our money so we keep it in “savings”

• We slough off at work because “they don’t value me”

• We drink our health away to numb the pain

• We don’t lift heavy things because it might hurt our backs

We’re myopic. We get fixated on our emotions, reactions, and the short-term. We are very bad at calculating long-term outcomes.

If you’ve already thrown your jacket into the fire, don’t lose hope. Because even though we can’t go back, we can always go forward. And no matter how cold we get, it’s rarely the cold that kills us.

We die because we stop moving. We quit asking for help. And we surrender hope.

So stay steady. And hold onto your coat!