In 1933, an overwhelmed and frustrated woman named Frau sent a letter to psychologist Carl Jung asking "how to live."

(I guess she didn't have any influencers on Instagram shouting motivational phrases at her)

Jung replied:

“There are no answers to your questions because you want to know how to live. One lives as best as one can.

…if you do the next and most necessary thing with conviction, you are always doing something sensible and intended by fate.”

He shared the key to life.

He is part of recovery communities such as Alcoholics Anonymous.

It was even the title of the song ​Disney's Frozen 2​.

“The next right thing.”

Reflecting on this story made me reflect on how much my thoughts about success and progress have changed over the years.

“Success” redefined

I have been involved in Nerd Fitness for over 15 years.

Millions of people visit the site every year, over 50,000 customers have purchased items through NF, and our coaches have served over 15,000 individual customers.

During this time, I slightly changed my approach to "success" and the "good life".

I used to think that the only path to success required martial discipline and sticking to a specific plan. I never missed a workout and I was incredibly proud of that.

It didn't occur to me how much ​a privileged and simple life​ I lived where I had 100% control over my time.

(I apologize to all parents and guardians who read my 25-year perspective!).

Now that I'm 40, I see what kind of people we have Actually help at Nerd Fitness, I changed my approach to success and the "good life" quite radically.

Success doesn't come when we learn to do everything perfectly, but when we become better able to stay afloat even when things go wrong.

In other words, success is learning to be inconsistent. He learns to be good enough for long enough.

And that means when life seems chaotic, we should focus on the "next right thing."

Do the next right thing

AND ​latest newsletter​ author Oliver Burkeman talked about how he decided to maintain some common sense in an overwhelming world.

This led me to the following statements by author Eckert Tolle:

"What you call your 'life' should rather be called your 'life situation.' This is psychological time: past and future.

…Forget about your life situation for a moment and focus on your life.

Find "the narrow gate that leads to life." It's called Now.

Narrow your life down to this moment. Your life situation may be full of problems - most life situations are - but find out if you have a problem right now. Not tomorrow or in ten minutes, but now.

Do you have a problem? Now?

When we reflect on what has already happened and go crazy thinking about all the things that can or will happen in the future...

It's easy to lose control and feel overwhelmed.

Which brings us back to that trite solution: "the next right thing."

It's a cliché just because it's true.

We can greatly enlarge and narrow our attention to something that is still within our control. In some situations yes, now there is a problem. And we can only focus on this one thing.

However, in many other situations, it is often worrying about all the possible problems or issues beyond our control that keeps us from taking action on the things we can control.

Burkeman continues:

As for telling yourself I only have to do the next thing… you can always just do the next thing, and then the next, whether you like it or not.

It's actually a little weird to call any of these techniques "narrowing your horizons," as if they somehow involve artificially limiting yourself.

You're really just consciously recognizing how limited you've always been.

We all know how easy it is for us ​overcomplicate things​.

And when the world feels like a dumpster fire, it can be helpful to make the next decision, the smallest goal, and just do the next right thing.

This may include a workout or walk, focusing on your next meal, calling our therapist, or ​finally say no​ to commit.

If “now” is the only time there is, then “the next right thing” is the only thing we can really do.

I'll go and do the next right thing for me: I'll go for a walk.

-Steve

PS: Maria Popova has ​great article about the “next right thing”​ when it comes to her life as a writer, which inspired this article.

PPS: Nerd Fitness employs several part-time remote employees (with flexible nights and weekends) who will answer incoming, scheduled phone calls from potential clients interested in our one-on-one coaching. ​Click here to find out more​.

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