How Am I Doing? summary

When you really think about it and let your mind wander, you realize that you have the wildest dreams. You want to be a scientist spending their days swimming on the beach. Or perhaps you love colors so much you want to start your very own paint brand. Or maybe you're a sucker for theater plays and would be happy to get paid for watching them all year round. 

These are the kind of dreams you normally don't hear about, but while they are wild, they aren't impossible. They are very much attainable if only you set your mind to them. 

Don’t you just hate mirrors? They show you that fresh pimple on your nose and the ugly blemishes on your cheeks. And when you often look at one, people think you’re vain and only care about appearances. So you avoid mirrors as much as possible.   

On the contrary, mirrors should actually be your best friend. They are the best tools for turning yourself into the person you want to be. When you look in the mirror, you can see yourself not as you but as an entirely separate person, one with a wider perspective. Talking to this person will help you evaluate your values, learn things about yourself, and push your inner self toward the surface. 

Imagine walking up to someone on the street and asking them about their weakness. Do you think they would respond? Probably not. What you get would likely be a confused face and them facing the other way.

That sounds about right. After all, people never like admitting their weaknesses, probably because they're embarrassed and don't want others to see them as inferior or lacking. Instead, they do all they can to cover it up and keep it as tucked away from the world as possible.   

You walk into your office on a Friday morning with a smile. Then, you receive a text from your significant other, asking for a rain check because they can’t come to your dinner date later tonight. You’re grumpy all day and can’t function well. When you got home, you took a moment and reflected. Were you really angry or were you disappointed?

More often than not, anger is just a secondary emotion for either disappointment, sadness, or any variation of the two. When you're disappointed that you didn't win the game, you mask it with anger. When you're sad about your pet's passing, you mask it with anger. It becomes the surface-level emotion because it's almost always easier to release. You can punch a wall, shout at someone, or say all the curse words you can think of.

You stumble across a time machine that can take you anywhere and anytime. The moment you realized what it was, you immediately thought of that one time in your past that you want to change. It’s probably the time you slept in and missed that important university entrance exam. Or the time you rejected the offer to work overseas. Or the time you said “I do” despite your friends and family telling you not to. 

Admit it, you have that one experience in your past you’d want to change. Everyone does. However, no matter how hard you try, you can never change what has already happened. What’s done is done.

If you’ve never made a mistake in your life, you’re lying. Mistakes are an inevitable part of life, and no matter how good, careful, and obedient you are, you will commit a mistake whether you intend to or not. It can happen anytime and anywhere, and while you can't undo them, what counts is what you do afterward. 

Most of the time, this means owning the mistake, making amends with whomever you might have hurt, and pledging to improve yourself, so it won't happen the next time around. This may sound like the right thing to do, but these simple steps are actually just scratching the surface. You shouldn't stop at just promising to do better next time. It isn't a guarantee that you won't repeat the same mistake. 

If asked what you can accomplish in a minute, you can probably name a thing or two. You can go up a flight of stairs or chug a glass of water or do 15 jumping jacks. But what if you shorten that single minute to 23 seconds? What can you do now?

Normally, you wouldn't bother doing anything if you were told you only have such a short timeframe. After all, you probably wouldn't finish anything during that period. So instead, you just stare blankly at a wall or scroll mindlessly on social media, throwing that precious time away.