Think like a Viking: Sixty nine

This week's Viking quote

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Slow and sure.

_{- Njal's Saga -}

Many thousands of people have been eagerly awaiting sixty nine, anticipating the moment sixty nine happens, imagining the feeling of sixty nine, and preparing themselves for the pleasure.

OK not thousands, but hundreds. Hmm, would you believe fifty? How about ten? OK, at least one person has been anticipating it, I know that because they commented and said so, and today, that person can finally enjoy sixty nine.

Have you ever rushed into something only to regret it later? I have, I mean as a child and an adult.

I've managed to get myself into some of the most difficult situations through acting rashly, without proper thought [or any] and through allowing emotions to carry me away and forward. Fortunately I'm still here to tell the tales, although I'm not telling any of them for fear of incriminating myself, and thankfully none of those situations became a serious detriment to my life. Still, some were damaging and they affected me more than I would have liked. Sure, I learned lessons from them but I could have learned those same lessons without the pain and suffering I think...or maybe not.

One to ten

My father drummed the count to ten methodology into me; doing so, prior to reacting [or acting], is an excellent way to gain detachment from the moment and situation and allows one to contemplate the scenario and how best to act. Sure, we may still act incorrectly, but that pause and thought mitigates that possibility somewhat. It's just a process that [hopefully] prevents foolhardy, premature or impulsive behaviour. It worked for me...[When I took the time to do it]

Slow and sure

To me, this means taking one's time to evaluate, strategize and plan and to consider all angles, risks and opportunities, to weigh and measure objectively, then determine ways to mitigate the threats or risks, and to capitalize on the opportunities; Calculated decisions will be better ones, and better decisions bring better results.

That sounds like planning a military operation, and that's exactly how military operations are planned, but exactly the same principles apply to many aspects of life.

Approaching things with caution and objectivity, not rushing into decisions and being sure about the threats and risks or opportunities and advantages ahead of time just makes good sense. It's a similar concept to the count to ten method my dad instilled in me and this more measured approach has delivered much better results when compared to those gained by tumbling headlong into things without care or caution has.

That's it for this week, a slow and sure sixty nine. This thousand year-old Viking quote about evaluation and planning, care and caution, attention to detail, calculated decisions and the merits of not rushing headlong into situations or decisions is so simple but says so much and, if applied, I believe the concept will return better results than a more hasty approach.

Please feel free to disagree with my interpretation and add your own in the comments below, and I hope you enjoyed sixty nine this week.

Skol.

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