Finding Inspiration in Unexpected Places: The Great Crested Flycatcher and Self-Discipline
The impact of small offenses on your well-being and performance
It is a good thing for the Great Crested Flycatcher.
The bird, one of the largest flycatchers on the planet, migrates into mature forests of North America during the Spring in advance of its breeding season. On its way to these breeding grounds, Great Crested Flycatchers make pit stops in suburban neighborhoods that boast a healthy amount of big trees.
The ongoing migration was a fortuate and timely development for me last week. Because, in addition to being a conspicuous bird, the Great Crested Flycatcher also is a loud bird.
On Monday when my alarm went off at 5:20 to start the day, I pressed the snooze button. Again at 5:29. And again after that. I was on the verge of calling off completely for the day.
Then nature’s alarm clock happened.
The Great Crested Flycatcher sings a lovely and distinguishable song. It does so with enthusiasm and volume that rivals some of the other loud birds in my patch, like the Carolina Wrens and Northern Cardinals.
Before I was given a chance to hit snooze yet again, the GCF in the big pines above my house started its morning song. Being one of my favorite birds, hearing it so loud and clear and close stirred enough energy within me to finally get up and get started with the day.
Your rational mind knows all the reasons why you should jump out of bed in the morning when the alarm sounds. You are less tired throughout the day if you avoid hitting the snooze button. Your family, friends, and colleagues are counting on you. And as Marcus Aurelius reminded us, you were not made to lie in the comfort of bed all day.
At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself: ‘I have to go to work — as a human being. What do I have to complain of, if I’m going to do what I was born for — the things I was brought into the world to do? Or is this what I was created for? To huddle under the blankets and stay warm?’
— Marcus Aurelius
Some days you drift off course. You hit the snooze button. You might even think it is harmless to do so. But if you start to pay attention when this kind of drifting off course happens, you start to see it everywhere.
You’re not waking up when the alarm goes off.
You’re not eating well.
You stopped exercising regularly.
You started drinking more.
You’re inconsistent with your rejuvenating routines (reading, writing, meditating, etc.).
All of a sudden the pervasiveness becomes clear. What happened here is the gradual erosion of your self-discipline. You are letting yourself get away with being less than your potential. You are probably justifying it somehow, too.
While these offenses may seem minor, they are not harmless. You stop feeling well and you stop performing well. Your mood darkens more often than not. Other people notice. It affects you and everyone around you.
Noticing it, catching it before the offenses become major and you do substantial damage, is a big first step. It is the cerebral part that, now acknolwedged, allows you to shift from thinking to action.
The universe delivers subtle messages to you all the time about things you may be struggling with consciously or subconsciously. It sends the songs of an interesting bird to your little sliver of the world, snapping you out of your own head for a moment. It sends you a quote or a chapter in a book that you are reading that captures your attention in a special way.
It even sends you emails from one of your favorite newsletters with a timely message in the same vein as the other messages being delivered.
* alarm sounds *
Good morning, it’s time to get up.