Double-entry bookkeeping, in accounting, is a system of bookkeeping. Every entry to an account requires a corresponding and opposite entry to a different account.
It is a little like Newton’s third law:
‘For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
Or maybe better put
‘For every action, there is a natural consequence,
A debit and a credit.
Here is an example:
Say I buy a £1,000 laptop. While excitingly I have a new laptop, the natural consequence is I have £1,000 less cash.
Debit equipment
Credit cash
Typically we always concentrate on the action (the laptop). The consequence comes secondary (the cash).
Instead of thinking of the action, what if we focused on the consequence?
Physical Exercise
In a lockdown, I can’t do my usual exercise. Walking 10-12 miles a day. Practising martial arts.
The natural consequence. I am slowly and steadily piling on weight. I have a nice growing dad bod gut. I feel weak, energyless and unfit.
Assuming I am not happy with that, what consequence would I prefer?
Personally, a six-pack. A muscular, athletic physique. The energy to run and jump. The strength to pick up heavy objects. Flexibility to still touch my toes.
At the moment, I have none of those. But what action would make that be a consequence?
Lifting weights. Gymnastics. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Running. Yoga. Pull-ups. Push-ups. Manual labour.
In these strange times, what action is easiest to take for that consequence of being fit and strong? Now I have cleared the garage, I have access to my weights and a rowing machine. I only need 30 mins and I can do a rowing machine warm-up then some deadlifts.
I have enough room in my new bigger bedroom to do a yoga work out. There are plenty of free workouts on YouTube.
Yesterday I got a weights session in and a yoga session. Today (a bit sore after weights) a yoga session.
At the moment there is no change in the mirror. The dad bod is still there. But I do feel better (maybe a bit sore). A feel a little fitter. I feel a little stronger. This is the action. The action required to create the consequence of an athletic physique.
It will just take time and consistency, as all-natural consequences do.
Junk Food
When you are trapped in isolation it becomes so easy to comfort yourself with junk food. Chocolate digestives. Chocolate hobnobs. Lion bars. BBQ crisps. Frangipanes. Almond fingers.
Why do we do it? We know we shouldn’t, but we do it anyway.
Boredom. Stress. Anxiety. Depression.
My wife and I talked about a strategy to deal with it. Put all the junk food in the garage. Then each day put your rationed junk food allowance in a plastic box. That’s all you are allowed for the day. If you eat it all by 10:00 am, then tough. There is no more.
We talked a good game, but we never followed through. We never rationed the food. I probably went off and demolished a whole packet of nice biscuits in one go.
It’s strange. I cared, but I didn’t care at the same time.
After working out though, I found I wasn’t as tempted by the junk food. I preferred proper food. Pork, chicken, beef. Vegetables. Rice. I wasn’t as hungry as I had been. I snacked less in between meals.
The action of eating less junk food and more meat and vegetables will lead to a consequence of being healthier and losing weight. To feel lean and mean.
Alcohol
When we first went into isolation people ignored the rules. They had BBQs and house parties. They socialised and enjoyed themselves. Most people associate socialising and enjoying themselves with an alcoholic drink.
Some people were stressed and anxious when they moved into isolation. Trying to work from home with substandard IT. Trying to do a days work and homeschool their kids at the same time. Worrying about job security and paying the bills. At the end of a stressful day, it is so easy to reach for a drink. To help relax and take away the stresses of the day. To forget all your problems.
I succumbed to the same pitfalls. Coping with stressful workdays with a drink. Celebrating the weekends with a drink. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t drinking a bottle of whiskey a night or anything. But you fall into this bad habit.
When you start drinking on a night, you then get the munchies. You eat more snacks. More junk food. On top of the junk food, you ate during the day. You don’t sleep well. You then wake up tired. Energy less. You don’t have the motivation to exercise. You console yourself with more junk food. It becomes a vicious cycle.
Since exercising, I have felt stronger, fitter and have more energy. I feel less inclined to eat junk food and prefer to eat meat and vegetables. I also feel more resilient, less stressed and anxious. I, therefore, feel less inclined to drink.
Takeaways
For every action, there is a natural consequence.
My actions during the first few weeks of lockdown have lead to a dad bod with a belly. No exercise. Junk food. Alcohol. What a consequence.
If I want a natural consequence of being fit, strong, lean and full of energy, then what actions should I be taking?
Any healthy lifestyle concentrates on exercise, what you eat and what you drink.
If you make the effort to exercise, it has the natural consequence of making you fitter and stronger.
Strangely for me, a chain reaction of consequences happened. After exercising then I would eat better. Then when I ate better, I didn’t feel like drinking.
The one action of exercise leads to a chain reaction of positive consequences.
Apparently, at the end of this lockdown, each of us will either become a hunk, a chunk or a drunk. I am currently a chunk but I am aiming to be a hunk.
What actions are you going to take?
Are you going to be a hunk, chunk or drunk at the end of this?
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