Low Hanging Fruit or Johnny Appleseed?

There is an interesting tension between achieving something worthwhile and the expenditure of time and energy to do so. I am a big believer in strategically determining what the path of least resistance is to any objective. However, that may not mean going after low hanging fruit.

What do I mean by low hanging fruit?

Well, exactly what the metaphor means. If you’re looking at a tree full of fruit, and it is ripe and ready to eat, and you would like to have a piece of that fruit, then most likely you’re going to reach for a piece that is within your grasp. 

What this metaphor implies is instant gratification. You are not there to harvest all the fruit off that tree. You are not there to plant more fruit trees. You are not there to tend the orchard. No, your objective is just to have a tasty bite. 

If you are like me, you like to be entertained. You like to seek out pleasure. You like to have some Fun in the Sun. And, it is relatively easy to fall into the trap of constantly seeking out these kinds of stimulations. As soon as you grow bored with the first distraction, you move to the next pleasurable activity, etc., etc. That is sometimes called the hedonistic treadmill.

And that’s another way to think of low hanging fruit. You can witness animals like deer doing this. They love to nibble on plants, trees, bushes, and can wreck a garden in mere minutes.

What is my point about all of this?

I think we need to find a different path, a different way of living day-to-day. 

This past week, I listened to the podcast Deep Questions by Cal Newport. He was advocating for mental fitness. One of Newport’s overall objectives is to help people live better in a world full of distractions. These distractions can also be thought of as low hanging fruit.

Newport advocates for doing five things to build your mental fitness.

1.         Read every day

2.         Write regularly

3.         Take thinking walks

4.         Don’t carry your phone with you all the time; plug it in & leave it when you get home

5.         Learn a hard skill

I generally agree with his advice and like it. For example, I am wanting to and beginning to read every day after a period of fallowness. I am now writing a blog post every day, too.. in fact, one of these recent posts was about taking sauntering Walks, sort of the equivalent to what Newport means by thinking walks.

So, I can definitely get behind Cal’s proposal, but I would want to, and will, modify his 4th and 5th points.

First, I am actually drafting this blog post on my phone. I also carry it with me because I use it to track my steps. Instead of not carrying my phone with me everywhere, I follow his advice to make the phone as uninteresting as possible. I turn off most notifications. I have removed all but two phone games. I avoid social media like the plague (as much as possible). So it’s not that distracting, to me, as I imagine it is to others.

However, I understand his point. I get hooked on the YouTube app sometimes. Sometimes I listen to podcasts to “fill dead air” when I would be better off listening and capturing my own thoughts. I used to have a big Zillow addiction, but luckily have seemed to cure myself from that.

My opportunity is to choose to read, write, walk, or even just sit in silence versus playing YouTube videos or the two phone games. Limit my phone use, as much as possible, starting tomorrow… (jk, already started today).

And on his last point, I find it hard to get excited about learning and doing hard things, when put that way.

What does excite and call to me?

That’s the place I like to start.

And then ask, okay, so how do I want to do this? And how can I turn it into a game, an adventure, or a challenge that intrigues me?

Again, take writing these blog posts.

I have wanted to write and make regular posts to the site since we launched it 3 years ago. I’ve had fits and starts, but no real traction.

Then I heard two different podcasts, one after the other, where the host on one and a guest on the other, talked about the life changing experiences they had as a result of writing and posting a blog every day. That captured my interest and motivated me to give this one-year challenge a go.

Or take my daily 15,000 steps per day.

Part of what motivates me to do this is related to the fact that if I were to walk 15,000 steps per day for 1 year, I would be able to walk from the West to the East coast of the US in that timeframe. And that’s a challenge that inspires me. Will I ever walk across the US? I might. And I know that I can, if I give it a year.

Thus, my suggestion is pick something that gets your motor running, to head out on to the highway, to be looking for adventure, and to keep going.

Set a time limit, though. I am a fan of the 90-day challenge idea… or even one year, if it matters enough.

It will be “hard” and you will develop “skills” but you can also have a blast at the same time.