HOW TO USE LOW HANGING FRUIT TO YOUR ADVANTAGE

Last week was the second part of a series about fear. Whenever you're facing a global event, we may sometimes feel quite afraid. Check out PART ONE HERE to understand why we may feel this way, and PART TWO HERE for tools to regain control over your mental state when you're facing situations like these.

Today, let's talk citrus. As you may know, my husband and I are in Palm Desert for two months, but did you know that we get to live right beside an orange tree? I thought I would dedicate this week's blog to a very interesting concept: The idea of the low hanging fruit. Watch the following video or keep reading to know where I'm going with this...

You have all heard of the low hanging fruit, right? The one you can reach without a ladder, without tools, without having to climb... The one you can reach by just raising your hand. The concept of low hanging fruit can potentially have multiple meanings. Let's look into it.

First, when we talk about low hanging fruit, we mean it's the one that is the easiest to pick, right? It's the one that we can pick without really making an effort. It's that thing on your endless to-do list that is the easiest to achieve. It may not be, however, the juiciest. The oranges that are closest to the ground on our orange tree ripen slower than the ones that are higher up since they don't get as much sunshine. The ones at the top are juicy, fruity, and ready to be picked. They're the ones that are going to give us the best results.

Go over your to-do list and have a look at which things are the low hanging fruits and which things, on the other hand, are the juiciest, most amazing goals, the ones that will give you a lot more benefits when you actually achieve them.

Don't get me wrong: I'm not saying you shouldn't reach for the low hanging fruit, because it is absolutely necessary to have some low hanging fruit in our to-do list in order achieve the bigger goal. Our brain actually has enough power to release some feel-good chemicals in our body, as you may already know. Whenever you check something off your to-do list, dopamine is released through your body and makes you feel good. This is why if you have a really big goal, you should chunk it down into smaller goals.

Let's say you have your own business, and you're setting your long-term goals. When I work with corporations, we set a five-year goal, a two-year goal, a one-year goal... And we still have to break each one of them down into smaller goals, because these smaller goals are going to be our low hanging fruit. The one thing you can do this week towards your goal. The one thing you can do today towards your goal. That's how we want to see it.

The same thing goes for debt. As my friend Lynn Williams, who's a certified financial planner, has taught us in the THINK Yourself® WEALTHY course, if you have a lot of debt, you always want to have a look at all the debt that you have and pay off the smallest one first, because of that dopamine. Being able to pay off a small part of your debt will give you the financial confidence you need to keep going. You will focus on the next small part, and then the next one... Chunk things down in order to achieve bigger goals in life.

Today, because I'm just about to have breakfast, I'm just going to quickly grab my orange and then I'm going to go back to my to-do list to achieve the few tasks that are part of my bigger goal.

Have a great day, everyone!