How I learned to tie my shoes at age 29.

It took me surprisingly long to learn how to tie my own shoes.

As a young kid, I mostly rocked velcro footwear, so tying shoelaces wasn't really a concern. Even later in elementary school, my grandpa used to help me tie my shoes each school day -- it was part of his make-sure-you're-presentable morning appearance check, likely a remnant from his military days. It was only after I could no longer rely on velcro fastening and family vetting that I finally stepped up and learned how to tie my shoes.

How sad, then, to find out I've been doing it wrong this whole time.

My ego's saving grace is that you've probably been doing it wrong, too -- at least according to Terry Moore's TED talk:

After trying this out, I can attest to its superiority. In fact, even my most stubbornly self-untying shoes yield to this method. My muscle memory has yet to realign, so it does feel somewhat awkward, but the results speak for themselves.

Give it a shot and tell me what you think.

And let me be the first to welcome you to the no-more-double-knots club.

Thoughts on food vs. meals.

When I eat lunch at work, it's a pretty simple affair. Most of the time, it's something fairly light -- a protein shake and some fruit or oatmeal or something along those lines. Nothing super heavy.

The shakes themselves serve two purposes:

1. On days that I'm super busy, it ensures that I can get something quick and relatively nutritious into me without resorting to fast food or devolving into a low-blood-sugar grump; and
2. It takes the edge off my hunger and lets me be a bit more mindful of what and how much I actually want to eat.

Without that second step, my empty-stomach decisions tend to be not so great -- too much food at less than healthy places for not-so-small amounts of money. Instead, if I make my choices when I'm only somewhat hungry, I usually opt for smaller portions of healthier things (hence the oatmeal, fruit, soup, whatever).

This workday route works for me because most of my lunches are just food (sustenance), not meals (experience). I often eat at my desk, between meetings or prepping other work -- it's just food to keep me going. By contrast, my dinners are usually sit-downs with Kelli -- meals to be enjoyed, with good company.

I figure that I've got a reasonably fixed calorie and cash budget (for reasons of health, both physical and fiscal). So why not spend more of it on meals vs. on just food?

Looking 100 feet ahead.

Even for a long journey -- say, driving across the entire United States -- all you really need to be able to see is the 100 feet or so in front of you.

Not the whole road ahead. Not a full map of the trip.

Just the next 100 feet.

You can always course-correct. You can always adjust as needed.

And if the road is closed? Then you don't need to abandon the mission -- you simply find a new route, and keep going.

And if you find a place that's more interesting than your original destination? Then you stop and check it out. Because that's the real journey that you're on.

Do the best you can with the most interesting people you can find. And you will find something that you love.

---

(This is adapted/butchered from a segment on "Back to Work" with Merlin Mann and Dan Benjamin. I loved the bit and jotted it down from memory. Since I assume you already listen to this excellent podcast, I leave it uncorrected.)