Giving up is good, actually
How to remember people's names, the salad I make whenever I have friends coming over, and some thoughts on giving up good habits.
What a week! I went to the pub, friends came over and inside, and my dog got a lot of much-deserved attention Twitter.
Here’s everything I have for you today…
Some Practical Tips To Help You Remember People’s Names
Since getting Paddington, I’ve met a lot of people in my neighbourhood. As in, three times the number of people I’d met in the previous six months of living here. I’ve been making a conscious effort to remember the names of everyone I stop and chat to, so was excited to see Wired publish this piece with a bunch of helpful ways to do just that.
A past bad habit of mine was being so focused on making sure a new person wasn’t stumped by my name, I wouldn’t properly register their side of the introduction. (Rude!) The Wired story touches on my exceptionally selfish problem, noting that if you want to remember someone’s name, you actually need to make an effort to learn it. From there, it’s all about finding a way of remembering that works for you. For me, it’s going straight to the Notes app as soon as an interaction ends.
Once I have someone’s name written down, I remember it—even without checking back in on my note—because I’ve made an effort to listen, learn, and save it.
The Best Salad To Make When You’re Having People Over
We had our first visitors in four months this week, and Michael made NYT Cooking’s Lemon-Garlic Kale Salad. This salad is a go-to, especially for dinners when you need something green on the side of your main dish, but can’t be bothered with anything too time-consuming. It’s incredibly easy, coming together with a few pantry staples, almonds, kale, and an optional sprinkle of parmesan.
Once you’ve made this salad a couple of times, you don’t really need a recipe. As long as you’ve got kale as your base; enough almonds to add some necessary crunch; and a simple olive oil, garlic, and lemon dressing, you’re pretty much good to go. (I always use way less olive oil than the recipe calls for, FYI.)
And Something To Read If You’re Feeling Guilty About Giving Up On A New Habit
How long do you have to stick to a new routine for it to be a success? It’s a tricky question, and one I’ve thought about a lot while beating myself up over giving up on daily journaling/being vegetarian/any exercise class I’ve ever tried to attend regularly. For most of these routines I’ve moved on from, my general conclusion is usually that they were a success, even though they weren’t forever.
Knowing I can run 14km on a Saturday morning—if I train and work up to it—is a reminder of what my body can be capable of when I commit, in the same way that a year of vegetarianism taught me the joy of cooking and eating meat-free, leaving me with a much more balanced diet than before.
I’ve been enjoying a new series on Bustle, ‘I Let Go’, that’s all about moving on from ‘good’ habits. The opening piece of the series, ‘The Joy & Opportunity Of Dropping A Routine’ digs deep into the feelings I touched on above, making a case for… simply giving up.
I really liked this piece from Katie Heaney on giving up The Artist’s Way (something I have also done, many times) and this piece on giving up on having a bed time (something I could literally never do, but enjoyed reading about).
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Until next week!
Gyan x