The Chopstick Philosophy
I sometimes struggle with obsessive compulsion. Rabbit hole research. Overeating. I have one of the most demanding software engineering jobs in the world. I still have have 11 hobbies. 7 of them are active. I get obsessed with dopamine rushes and I quickly finish one trigger and move on to the next. I like doing things fast but this isn’t exactly sustainable all the time, and as a result I burn out. So, I’m trying to take control of this aspect of my life for a few months now, and I’ve started a certain identify-acknowledge-action method I call the Chopstick Philosophy.
Identify
I make 2–3 servings of food while cooking a meal, like most, and gracefully divide them into 2/3 proper servings. Pretty neat. I put one portion on my plate and eat it. Seems normal! But wait. I’m not finished. Right after my plate’s empty, I still feel hungry and so I want more! Naturally, I get up and get another portion, and then another; and before I realised or finally felt full, 3 servings of food I’ve prepared for the day or more, is gone in one sitting. You think its funny, but the pony I sat on my trip to the Lake district, did not!
Acknowledge
Why I’m doing this? Occam’s razor says: I eat quicker than my brain can process the Leptin and Ghrelin (hormones that signal I’ve eaten so I’m full). This is simple, reproducible, scientific truth. No, I don’t have a “big appetite” or a “genetic defect”. I eat so fast, by the time my brain starts processing the biochemical signals of being full, I’ve gone ahead and ate the whole village. Yep. Nothing complex. No, I’m not broken for this. I don’t need to ‘fix’ myself. I love that I can do stuff quickly, and I am ever so thankful for my brain and what it can do! It’s been the friend that’s there whenever I needed it. Thanks, Brian! ( I typo the spelling of ‘brain’ so often, I’ve permanently renamed it to “Brian”.)
Action
So how do I stop eating quickly? Brian and I are friends so, we have an agreement. I started using chopsticks. Yep the good old chopsticks Confucius asked us to use. It’s incredible in slowing the eating pace down and Brian gets more time to chew. Simple change. Provable effect. I no longer eat at a maniacal pace. I still can do other stuff pretty fast! It’s like being able to eat unlimited candy without the side effect of getting diabet.. ooh boy here we go eating again!
WTH am I telling you this?
There’s a saying in the startup-culture: “identify your privilege”. Most unique traits that we think we have within us that is hindering some aspects of our lives, perhaps can be approached in a similar way. Identifying the trigger, acknowledging the positives and negatives of the said trigger and then devising a plan to incorporate it in a way that possibly turns a regressive effect into a progressive one. Of course there will be exceptions an if you find some immediate ones, come, let’s discuss about it!
Let’s embrace who we are. Let’s not try to put our unique abilities and quirks into a square box. Let’s try this together — The Chopstick Philosophy!