Minute With Mallon: Don't Quit In The Valley!

Welcome to Minute with Mallon!

Something I Taught:

Recently, while working with a client, we were discussing something that was taking much longer than he felt it should.

I brought up a concept I learned from James Clear’s book, Atomic Habits, called the Valley of Disappointment.

It’s the gap between the effort you’re putting in and the results you can actually see.

The key is to keep going long enough for those small, consistent actions to compound into visible progress.

As I shared in one of these newsletters about four months ago, I started getting serious about walking in the mornings. 

At first, it was pretty tough.

Within about a month and a half, I added a 25-pound weight vest.

That certainly didn’t make it any easier! 🙄

A couple of days ago, I went for a walk with my wife, Sandy, who has always been a really fast walker.

We were on a path with a lot of elevation, and I was walking along without breathing hard at all.

Then she asked me if I would slow down.

Yes‼️

In the past, she was usually the one taking off and leaving me behind because I couldn’t keep up.

What changed?

Not much on any one particular day.

I just kept walking.

And somewhere along the way, all those ordinary mornings began to add up.

My client then reminded me that Joseph’s life in the Bible looked a lot like a very long Valley of Disappointment.

God had given Joseph a dream about his future, but instead of things getting better, they seemed to get worse.

His brothers sold him into slavery. He was falsely accused. He was thrown into prison. And even after helping Pharaoh’s cupbearer, he was forgotten for two more years.

For a long time, Joseph couldn’t see the results.

But that didn’t mean God wasn’t working.

Eventually, Joseph was brought before Pharaoh, interpreted his dreams, and was elevated to become second in command over all of Egypt.

What looked like years of delay were actually years of preparation.

Joseph kept moving forward even when he couldn’t see where it was leading.

That’s the lesson.

Sometimes progress is happening long before you can see it.

Whether it’s your health, your business, your relationships, or your faith, don’t confuse slow progress with no progress.

Keep showing up.

You may simply be walking through your own Valley of Disappointment.

Where in your life do you need to keep going, even though you’re not seeing the results yet?

Something to Ponder: 

“Ask students a question and they inquire for a day; teach students how to ask questions and they will inquire for a lifetime.” 

Chinese Proverb

Something I Learned:

From the book, "The Art of Asking Better Questions," by J.R. Briggs:

“The average child asks roughly forty thousand questions between the ages of two and five. During this three-year span, a shift occurs in the kinds of questions the child asks. By two and a half, they shift from asking questions about simple facts to ones that require more complex explanations. By their fourth birthday, the lion’s share of the questions demonstrates a hunger for explanations, not just facts.  A recent study revealed that the average four-year-old girl in the UK asked her mother 290 questions in a typical day. Yet sadly, by middle school these children had almost completely ceased asking questions. When we enter regular schooling age, the desire to inquire wanes significantly. 

The primary educational emphasis in most public schools is to teach students how to sit quietly and retain information passively. Repeat after me. Memorize the information. Regurgitate on the test.

“Ask students a question and they inquire for a day; teach students how to ask questions and they will inquire for a lifetime.”

The most significant intellectual skill available to human beings is not taught in school. 

And that's how to ask great questions!

Something I Saw:

Bryce Canyon National Park! We went to the bottom and back up on horses…

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Hope you have an incredible week! 

Robert