THE PIPELINE PRINCIPLE
EVERYTHING DISPLACES SOMETHING
tba, rough, rough. (Scan for the gist of it. Let me know if you want this finished.)
Super simple.
In all we do and have there is only so much room for things to flow through, like a pipeline. In computer language, it is called "bandwidth" - how much data can be run through it in a specific period of time. If you fill much of the pipeline up with "noise" or crappola, there is less room for the good stuff to flow through.
Simple.
If I eat toxins, my processing system will work on correcting that and not work on its other functions that keep me healthy. If I eat too much sugar, my body will be trying to get back to normal, so, besides the damage of the item, my body will not be doing another function it must do to be healthy. [In a sense, there is a double negative effect.]
If I eat food late at night, my body cannot rest totally as it has some food to process while it is supposed to be repairing itself. If I don't get sufficient sleep, my energy is being used to keep functioning when I am in disrepair.
If I try to do more than fits through the pipeline of time, life, energy, something must be excluded. If that something that gets excluded is of higher value, then I've just given away part of my life.
We violate the rule of concentrating on higher value items by putting in lower value items and/or not even knowing which high value items should go through the pipeline of life.
SOME PIPELINES CAN BE EXPANDED, OVER THE LONG TERM
Though a pipeline cannot be expanded in the moment, over time we can expand some.
Except for
Time cannot be expanded beyond 24 hours a day.
Our body functioning capability cannot be expanded, but it can be used to do the right things, or we could bring it up to its full bandwidth if it is operating poorly..
Our mind cannot be expanded, but it can be trained to be more productive and to use more of its higher functions.
Though we can affect some pipelines only a little or not at all, we can hugely expand our productivity pipeline by hugely expanding our ability to produce more value per amount of time by focusing on that which is more valuable (duh!). Stephen Covey in his classic The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People (which is a must-read book) writes of the trade-offs of "producing" (sawing a tree; "P") versus spending your time increasing your "productive capability" (sharpening your saw so you can cut down more trees per amount of time; called "PC"). If you just "P" all the time, you'll not have a powerful "PC".
THE BOTTOMLINE: BALANCING THE PIPELINE
TV displaces relationship time, naps, shuts body and mind down
Sugar and junk food displaces body repair and proper digestion of good foods.
Eating late at night displaces sleep and body repair.
Disrupting the body causes the body to use more energy trying to get back to it "high functioning" point, which it needs for survival. (Homeostasis, link to The Homeostasis Checklist.)
Using high energy time up with a lower value task wastes the potential value of the time spent, forever.
Put "good ideas"/possibilities on a separate idea catcher list, don't do them as they come up!
Displacing learning time with idle time causes one's pipeline to forever be smaller.
THE VALUABLE PIPELINES
These pipelines are to be highly honored with integrity as they are the pipelines to what is good in life:
Body functioning, repair, proper digestion (Homeostasis) - Pushed by having to deal
with imbalance
Time
Finding things (a place to put everything, cost of what is lost)
Only so much, in volume, can get done, do what is of the highest value only,
Life
Trying for what is an unrealistic expectation when you could do something else
attainable
Energy
Habits - Good ones take less energy, thereby leaving more energy for other things!
Intention, follow through (directs more through the pipeline of what is valuable and
follow through makes sure something is not dropped, like a leak, from the pipeline.)
What we think about (stress and other "bad-thought" based feelings will displace good
thoughts, plus they will hypersensitize the alarm system so that the simple brain gets
busy matching up an even greater quantity of negative records! Rehearsing, saying,
reading good thoughts will displace bad thoughts.)
SO, WHY THIS ARTICLE?
I want to make the point that one is giving up too much by doing anything that harms the flow of good stuff in the pipeline.
This means, in terms of this site, that one's Life Plan should include goals and strategies addressed to making sure these pipelines are being maximized in terms of great output - for a much, much greater, much happier life!
