The broccoli trick to achieving your goals.

Photo credit: The Spruce Eats

When our kids were young, we had a simple rule that saved us countless nights at the dinner table:

“You don’t get to hate something you’ve never tried.”

When we’d serve them a new recipe, they’d take one look at it and say, “I don’t like this.”

This is an amazing defense mechanism against something that has broccoli in it. Upon seeing the tree-like stalks of broccoli poking their smelly heads through the crust of a casserole my kids would react instinctually. The mere presence of broccoli would cause alarm.

“I don’t like this.”

At which point I would say, “You don’t get to hate something you’ve never tried.”

Until you’ve tried something, you’re not really allowed to have an opinion. You might love it. It might be your favorite thing in the world. It could change your life! But you’ll never know if you put up defenses before you’ve even tried it one time.

It’s January, a perfect time to do something new in your life. But, you’ll be tempted to judge it as ineffective before you’ve even really tried it.

That exercise program will never work for me.

That writing approach won’t help me finish my book.

That savings plan isn’t for me.

That set of Facebook Ads won’t help my business.

No matter what your goal is, you’ll catch yourself saying, “I don’t like this” about new things. When you do, tell yourself what I told my kids.

“You don’t get to hate something you’ve never tried.”

And then, do it anyway. You just might be surprised how much you like it.

-by Jon Acuff

Jon Acuff is the New York Times Bestselling author of six books including his most recent Wall Street Journal #1 Bestseller, Finish: Give yourself the gift of done.

 

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