The Chicken Wing Theory - Focus on the Meat, not the Bone
Hey boners! It has been too long, YouTube has definitely taken a lot of my time. I apologize for the lack of posts on the main site. I do believe that there are currently things that work better as a post on the main site, so I will do my best to bring them to you here, starting with this one. So what the hell is the chicken wing theory?
It is something I heard on the Radical Personal Finance podcast some time ago. I looked it up to see if there was an originator of it, but I came up empty, so I will give credit to Joshua Sheets for bringing this to my attention. It is a simple concept: try to treat events and things in your life like chicken wings. The meat is the good stuff, it's what you consume. However, you have to avoid the bone, you have to eat around it, you have to deal with it. The bone is the bad stuff in a situation. An easy example is our boy Mega Man up there. That's him leaving the office on Friday night. He has to go through the crap of destroying eight robot masters, and whatever else Dr. Wily throws at him, then the Dr. himself. If he only looks at the bad, he would hang up his blaster, as he has to keep fighting all the time with this maniac that keeps getting loose(law enforcement seems to suck in his universe). If he looks at the good however, he is bringing peace to the people, he keeps getting upgrades after killing the robot masters(it is what he does!), and he keeps meeting interesting new people(Proto Man, Bass, Duo). If Mega Man just looked at the bad, he would be bitter as hell, and would probably go on a rampage himself.
Let's get into an easy real world example: your job. Personal growth, increasing knowledge, career development and money are the meat. Waking up early, having eight or more hours blocked from gaming or other hobbies, labor, and dealing potentially with people you may not like are the bone. If you focus on the meat versus the bone, you will have a damn easier time with it. On the flip side, once the bone starts taking up more room than the meat, it may be time to consider leaving. Here are a few more examples:
Working out - The meat is health and looking good. The bone is having to commit time, money and effort to do it. The sweatiness! The soreness!
Social work event - The meat is team morale and potential career growth. The bone is using more time with co-workers doing something you may not like, on top of a potential expense.
Family gathering - The meat is catching up with relatives, making unexpected connections, making them happy. The bone is less time for chilling, seeing people who you may not like too much, potential awkward moments.
Go for the meat guys. There are situations that suck, there really are. If you do your best to focus on the meat though, they will be easier, and as you continue dealing with it, once the meat is completely gone, you will know that it is time to get another chicken wing. Using Bing for Microsoft Rewards takes time from my day, and I'm certain that Google search has more results, but I want my gift cards!
Get boning!
