The Strawberry Test

It may seem like a small and meaningless task to you but cutting strawberries is how I test myself mentally every day. Now, before I lose you, hear me out.

You've probably heard the phrase "How you do one thing is how you do everything". That's great. But is it true? Do you believe it? If you do claim to believe it then the strawberry test won't seem so crazy to you.

The strawberry test is something I do just about every day. I usually have oatmeal twice a day and in that oatmeal, I have strawberries and almond butter. Each of these is weighed and I have 80 grams of Oats, 32 grams of almond butter, and 150 grams of strawberries. The test comes when it's time to add the strawberries.

The way I do it is I cut the top off the strawberry, cut it in half and then cut it into fourths. Simple enough, right? If you answered yes, you're right. It is a pretty simple task. Until it's not. When the strawberries are small and you have to get to 150 grams it can quickly become an overwhelming task. That's where the test starts. How focused can I stay on this task right here right now? Can I maintain my attention to detail and continue to cut the strawberries into fourths or will I get lazy and accept my strawberries in halves? And lastly, do I have the mental fortitude to keep my mind on my goal of 150 grams of strawberries, or do I settle for 146 grams and call it a day?

You see, although a relatively minor task, this tests three key components of chasing and achieving your goals.

1.) Do I have the patience to achieve my goal?

2.) Do I pay enough attention to the little details?

3.) Is my vision on the long-term goal or am I getting stuck in the potential comfort of what's convenient now?

Call me crazy but it works. Almost every day my mind makes something up that I have to overcome. This is no different than you and the goals that you're chasing. Will they test your patience? If they're good ones they will. Will they require a high level of attention to detail? Most likely. Will they force you to keep your vision where you want to go and force you to deny comfort? Absolutely.

The strawberry test is designed to test all of these things on a much smaller scale then the goals you're probably chasing. However, it's great practice. What I've learned is that you don't have to go out and do 24-hour events or endurance races every weekend to test your mental strength. Those are great and I love them! But all we really need to test our minds is a simple test of cutting strawberries in fourths. After all, how we do one thing is how we do everything. Right?

I challenge you to give this a shot on your own. It might not be hard the first time you do it, but trust me, after a handful of times your mind will start to play tricks on you. It will start to make things up. One of my biggest reasons for using this test is if I can't focus on cutting 150 grams of strawberries into fourths then what makes me think I can go out and complete a 100-mile race?

Exactly.

You know what to do.

Get After It.