How you do anything is how you do everything

How you do anything is how you do everything. 

A quote I have been contemplating for quite some time now. What does this phrase really mean? Does it mean that if I am a loud person, I will do everything loudly? I mean, shoot, if I live every aspect of my life like I play my video games, I might be in a little bit of trouble! It may sound funny, but I think there may be a truth to unpack in this quote. 

I have often said “if you want to find yourself, you can find yourself everywhere.”  I believe that to be true. When I am looking for parts of my personality, there is nowhere I have not found myself. One clear example I think about a lot is how I play video games (for my non-gamer audience, stick with me, I will do my best to explain this in plain english.) 

This whole conversation in my head started because of how I play video games. You see, when I play, I tend to be quite reckless. I’m the one that has no concern for his own wellbeing, charging recklessly into the action. When I started thinking about this phrase, “how you do anything is how you do everything,” I began wondering if this was my counter example. So I put the phrase aside, and decided maybe it was wrong. However, as I began observing how I lived my life, I noticed that I don’t take much time to rest. I just keep going and going. I push myself past the limits of exhaustion and never consider my own wellbeing. Eventually I crash, burn, rinse and repeat. How you do anything is how you do everything. 

So, this got me thinking about it again. Then I saw another example in how I treat others. I’ll be honest, sometimes I have people I’m not motivated to treat well. I’m not saying I’m malicious, I simply don’t feel the need to go the extra mile for them. That’s when I hear those words “how you do anything is how you do everything.” Often it’s followed by the question “would you treat a friend like this? How about a family member? What about a spouse, if you had one?” 

How you do anything is how you do everything. How you treat anyone is how you treat everyone. Sure, you may, temporarily, be moved by your feelings to act differently, but you will eventually come back to your default way of being. 

I have used this idea to fuel myself towards my dream. Like everyone, I have places I want to be. Often, I find myself focusing on the steps I need to take to get to a certain place, when I should be focusing on the type of person that will be getting there. For me, I want to have money to give to people. Sure, there are steps to take to get there, but there is a certain type of person that I need to be at that stage. I need to be wise with what I have, self-controlled in my spending and focused on long-term goals. Lately I have been trying to focus on how well I use what I have, rather than having more. If I can do a decent amount on minimum wage, imagine what I can do when I have lots of money!This reminds me of Jesus' parable of the talents. Basically, a man goes on vacation, and leaves his supplies in the care of three managers. To one, He gives $5,000, to another, $3,000, and to the third, $1,000 (yes, I am paraphrasing for modern context, but it’s the same idea.) The first two managers invest the man’s money, and double it over His time away. The third man got scared that he would do something stupid with the money, so he stuffed it under his mattress. When the landlord came home, he applauded the first two men, and made them responsible for even more of his assets. The third, however, got fired. The manager wouldn’t even put the money in the bank where it could make a little interest, so his money was given to the one who was given $3,000. It’s a reminder that if you develop the gift of responsibility, it will go with you in whatever you do, big or small. 

I often wonder if this is why Jordan Peterson is known for telling people to clean their rooms. A room is something most people have, and if you start developing the habit of putting things where they should go, you may learn a thing or two about how you do things in your regular life. I know I did. I just moved recently. As I was in the process of packing up boxes and getting stuff from one house to the other, I started to think about what changes I wanted to make. My big decision was I had too much stuff that I was holding onto, and I needed to make way for some new things. Obviously, I can’t get rid of everything I own, but I started asking myself “what do I have too much of that I am not using? I started to see that I do this with my everyday life as well. I tend to take on too many commitments, leading to a cluttered life and a whole lot of burnout. Lately I have been taking inventory of what commitments I have and whether or not I need them in my life. This doesn’t mean you necessarily have to throw lots of stuff out, but it may mean you need to find a proper place for things. I have been going through a big one with my music taste. More on this in another entry. 

But, there is another way to apply this principle. I find when I am lost, “how you do anything is how you do everything” has been my guide. If I can find even one thing, one event, one moment that has been enjoyable to me, I can start to spread that out over the rest of my life like butter. When I was in college, I had a phase where I felt very lost. I had no idea who I was, and what I wanted to do with my life. I forget how this started, but I began gravitating towards times of silence, spending hours alone in my quiet dorm writing pages upon pages of my thoughts and experiences. Not only do I come back to this way of being when I feel lost, but it has slowly become the nature of the things I enjoy. I spend more time reading, writing, and now blogging! I have even started to create my youtube content in the calm, reflexive style that I do everything else in. When I am lost, I trace myself back to the last time I enjoyed doing something, and do similar things. I also make sure to try to do everything in the same manner. How you do anything is how you do everything. 

I hope this helps you along your journey. That you can learn to use what’s in front of you to turn yourself into the type of person that gets where you want to be. I hope that you find purpose when you are lost, and a path in the chaos. I hope you clean your room too. Believe me, it makes a huge difference in your everyday life. Oh, and in case you were wondering why this post is in my “movie thoughts” category, congrats! Your life has just been enriched by John Wick 4. You’re welcome. 

Until next time

Cheers