The Two Oreo Principle
Who doesn’t love Oreos? After all, they are chocolate!
Once they are in the house, we may just start eating a couple each day. You know, one of those tiny, seemingly inconsequential things that add up over time.
So if we crunch the numbers…Two oreos a day for an entire year at 45+/- calories for each cookie? 32850+/- calories!
And that is the Two Oreo Principle: some seemingly small action that acutally compounds into a much larger issue we have to deal with later.
So how does this apply to life? Well, it’s really a process of identifying what are all the “two oreos” we’ve added in the various areas of our lives.
- Maybe that sweet last minute snack at night.
- Maybe just skipping the exercise for today.
- Or maybe browsing Facebook for a few more minutes.
To deal with the two oreo principle we can ask ourselves when we start a new habit, or do something habitual again, if it’s just another oreo that will compound to becoming a problem later.
- hitting the snooze button?
- checking our email again?
- stopping for a daily coffee?
We can look at those recurring credit card expenses and decide if we’d rather keep spending the money the way we are or whether we would rather fund something more meaningful.
And look at our time. Look at our calendar. What oreo, small behavior or activity, is something we don’t really want to have accumulate over time?
Once we see the waste we can eliminate it. We can get our time back. We can readjust back to our priorities.
Just becoming aware if the first step. Making a conscious decision one way or the other is the second. It’s always our choice whether to eat those oreos!
Those oreos multiply! But they don’t have to!
Let’s remember this quote by Benjamin Franklin!
(Okay, maybe my “oreos” are really chocolate chip cookies, but the principle is the same!)
3 Comments
I, of course, cannot speak for anyone else, Pat, but I am much more interested in crunching Oreos than I am in crunching numbers.
No, the point of your blog post hasn’t escaped me, and it is all too applicable to me. Thank you for the reminder.
I have no comments on the post but am confused as to how your blog is working now. When I clicked on the highlighted part to get to your post, a notice popped up to ask if I wanted to leave facebook. I am not on facebook and do not want any connection with it so if this complication continues, I prefer not to receive any of your posts. Just keeping my life simple.
Like small unkindednesses, repeated, or little white lies about trivial stuff, or missed opportunities to say or do the right, loving things? Is that the way it works? I get reminders often enough from my own mind. By now there ought to be fewer carelessnesses to need my attention!
I really ought to share my oreos.