Monday: quotes catch up, on skipping “perfect”, and a recipe!

I was cleaning up my Google Keep a little over the weekend (Google’s notes app, like Apple Notes) and I noticed I have accumulated a small collection of quotes and ideas that I’ve never shared.

(Side note: If you use either Google Calendar or Gmail, you already have Google Keep – it’s built into the sidebar (on desktop). If it’s not on your tool bar already, click on the 9 dots to open the Menu (see yellow highlighting below). That’s also where Google Tasks lives. I am always surprised by how many people use Gmail and Google Calendar and are searching for task managers/notes apps to use yet don’t seem to know that Tasks (the blue checkmark in a circle) and Keep (yellow lightbulb symbol) are literally embedded right there in the same calendar/email they already use every single day!) (I’m totally not saying everyone needs to use those, but it just seems like… such a logical choice for Google Cal or Gmail users?)

Anyway, I thought I’d share a few quotes I’ve saved (so I can then Archive them in my Quotes section, with is my signal to myself that I’ve already shared them on my blog! Ha. Otherwise I do NOT trust myself to not be like, Oh, this is a good one… I should share this! (And meanwhile, I already did 2 months ago….)).

I am also not always good at remembering to capture the source of the quotes I save!! I really need to work on this.

I think these first 3 are from older James Clear newsletters:

Theologian and philosopher Saint Augustine on doing what you can for who you know:

“Since you cannot do good to all, you are to pay special attention to those who, by the accidents of time, or place, or circumstances, are brought into closer connection with you.”

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“There are two ways to live a longer life:

1) Biologically. Extend the timeline between your birth and your death.

2) Psychologically. Fit more lives into whatever time you are given.

Make each decade rich with experiences and perhaps you can live a handful of lives before you are done.”

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Roman scholar and philosopher Marcus Tullius Cicero on the value of making numerous attempts:

“For who is there who, shooting all day, will not sometimes hit the mark?”

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Source unknown:

“I spent 90% of my time worrying about things that didn’t matter. Don’t do that.” (From a woman on her deathbed)

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One that made me chuckle 😅:

“If you think it’s hard to meet new people, try picking up the wrong golf ball’. – Jack Lemmon

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One more for good measure (not sure where it’s from!):

A perfect system you don’t use isn’t perfect.

YES. I love this reminder. I think this is something that so many of us who try to be “organized” or are “high achievers” or want to “do a lot of things” can relate to.

Not only in terms of productivity systems, but this concept totally spills over to many other realms of life.

For example, the “perfect” workout plan that is not actually attainable…. is not perfect, because if you can’t actually really do it without going nuts or the wheels falling off, then it’s not really helping you! The things you do consistently matter more than the “ideal” things you only now and then.

I was talking about this with my closest coworker/ work friend the other day. She was telling me how she has managed to consistently strength train and exercise for 2 years now by doing the following:

She exercises every other day, for 40 min, over her lunch hour. She does 20 min of cardio, and 20 min of strength, and still has 20 min to change + eat quickly. She does this every other day, on repeat. So some weeks it’s Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and the next week it’s Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday. She doesn’t have to think about it- she just keeps going, every other day. It’s not a “lot” of exercise, really, so it’s very realistic and practical to fit in, but it’s plenty to impact her health positively. She said she knows if she were going to try and exercise for an hour a day 6x/ week, she wouldn’t be able to keep it up with her busy life, kids, pets, etc., so she figures that doing a bit less, but really hitting her target consistently and not getting all stressed about it would ultimately move the needle farther in the long run. After all, this system still gets her a very solid 3-4 days of formal exercise per week, year round- and she’s stuck to it for 2 years now! I loved her perspective! Sometimes less can be more.

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The EASIEST peach cobbler in the world (in the crockpot!):

Before I go, I have to share- I made this peach cobbler yesterday, from this recipe.

IT IS SO EASY, and it is SO GOOD. *This is not a fancy “all from scratch” recipe, but it IS a delicious recipe that can be whipped up with literally zero effort and tastes incredible. I am definitely keeping in my arsenal for a busy time when I need to pretend I made something fancy that actually took 2 minutes flat, and requires exactly 3 ingredients.

It goes like this:

Step 1: Dump 2 bags of frozen peaches into your crockpot.

Step 2: Cut open a bag of Betty Crocker snickerdoodle cookie mix; dump the (included) cinnamon/sugar seasoning packet onto the peaches. Stir.

Step 3: Pour the remaining cookie mix powder over the peaches.

Step 4: Chop 1 stick of cold butter into 16 pieces, sprinkle evenly on top of the peaches.

Step 5: Turn on the crockpot, cook on high 2.5-3 hours.

THE END. Took me exactly 3 min to toss the ingredients in and hit start, then it was back to the Packers game!

I will definitely be making this again! Yes it’s fun to use fresh peaches and get out all the flour and sugar and spices and make a mess and do the whole thing. But sometimes, you just want your house to smell like cinnamon and you want a cozy homemade tasting treat without all the fuss. This is the one!

Daily Gratitude:

I am grateful for my first leaf changing sighting this morning. See it??