The Law of 3s


I have often been asked why I don't provide a whole list of supplements. "Why only three, Kathleen?"

I operate under The Law of Threes. (I made it up.)

I firmly believe that we sugar sensitive people have "mush brains." We are smart and intuitive but we have a very hard time "remembering" what we are supposed to do.

However, I have found that I can easily remember three things.

Three key issues (blood sugar, serotonin, beta endorphin), three meals, three vitamins. I thought it would be a good idea to put The Law of Threes to use.

Every year between my birthday in late November and Christmas, I begin thinking about the year completed and the year to come. Where have I been, where do I want to grow and what will it take to get there?

In the past, I would write out many goals. Once I even bought one of those expensive planning systems which provided space in my appointment book to see how I was progressing with each goal. I think we had seven areas to work with. But after about two weeks, my enthusiasm petered out.

I couldn't remember everything I was supposed to be doing, so I simply stopped doing any of it. Sounds like a sugar sensitive person, don't you think?

Then I started working with The Law of Threes. I could remember three things. The idea grew with me. It simplifies and focuses my direction.

My goals:

* Simplicity
* Order
* Kindness

I majored in philosophy in college. It is easy for me to conceptualize global ideas. So even though there are only three goals, they still seemed to be pretty abstract.

So I said, "Okay, Kathleen, what do you mean? Let's get concrete and specific, here." It was fun to tag each goal to a very specific area - making it do-able. So I got to pick three applications for my three goals.

Here is what I chose:

* Simplicity - Food
* Order - Money
* Kindness - Exercise

I was getting closer. But what do "food, money and exercise" mean? Back to the drawing board I went.

Remember now, I was still working with The Law of Threes, so I didn't let myself start making up lists.

Oh, I wanted to. I wanted lists big time. All the things I would do with my food, all the strategies with money, and many, many options for exercise. But I held my pen and worked on holding my brain.

I admit that I kept wanting to drift off in wild reflection... "Well, you could do this...."

"Three, you get to choose three," I told myself. So I went back to my little grid (you know I love those grids)!

It made me laugh.

* Simplicity - Food - 3 meals each day.
* Order - Money - Pay bills on time.
* Kindness - Exercise - Do it.

This wasn't cosmic. I just have to worry about three specific jobs: 3 meals each day. Pay bills on time. Do it.

Of course there will be other things I have to figure out in order to manage these three. I will have to watch the time, go grocery shopping, decide what to cook when, what to eat. But I can just keep the focus on the end task - eat three meals every day.

The same is true for paying the bills on time. I have to remember to bring the mail in, to open it, to register that it is a bill, to note the day it is due, to make sure the money is in the right account. You know the drill. We tend to drift and then we get in trouble. La-La land I call this.

In the past, when I hit La-La land, I would get upset and feel bad, and then would have to avoid those feelings by not doing anything.

Now my pattern is to stay focused on what is manageable. Pay the bills on time. Eat three meals. Exercise.

The end of the story?

If I do my three things, I will get to my goals.

See if you can boil down what you want for next year into three things. Get real simple and real focused and see how it goes.

(c) Kathleen DesMaisons 2006 All Rights Reserved