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Episode 408 – The donut box story

• Every Friday a pink donut box appears in my office.
• I walk past it several times a day and if you have been a long time listener then you have heard me talk about that box on previous episodes.
• But this week I realized that the donut box deserves its own episode
• Yes – its that important
• Why – because it teaches a valuable lesson
• I don’t just walk by the donut box
• I cant
• The bright bubblegum color stands out on the grey counter which is surrounded by more grey
  • Grey carpet
  • A grey printer
  • Grey office supplies
• It shines bright in an area where one would not expect anything of color and sweet smell
• Especially not in the Finance department – where the box sits
•  
• So I look at it – intensely – every single Friday
• you might wonder – what is so interesting about a donut box?
• Other than – of course – its contents
• But they are not even the interesting part to me
• I have shared with you before that I am not tempted by donuts
  • Ice cream, chocolate, nuts – those are my vices
• But not donuts
• And that allows me to look at the box every time its there
• Why – you might wonder – is there any interest?
• I have asked myself the same question
• First of all –
• The box stands out – and that draws my attention
• The donuts look interesting to me – another reason
• Not appetizing, but interesting
• Every Friday I look
• For some reason I cannot ignore the box
• There is a part of me that wants to like the donuts, to be tempted by them, but its not happening
• Even after months and months of staring at them
•  
• since I am not interested in the contents of the pink box, I have begun to look at it like an investigator, trying to solve a case
• for a while – this wasn’t clear to me
• but over time I began to notice a few things that are very similar Friday after Friday,
• and I realized – this box doesn’t just contain donuts
• it contains treasures of wisdom
• and I want to share some of that wisdom with you today
• I don’t know if there are donut boxes in your offices or work environments
• But I know they are not just in mine

• According to an article I read, there are more than 13,000 doughnut shops in the U.S.,
• And this data is probably a couple of years old
• According to the article, donuts are one of the most available and competitive products in the foodservice industry.
• If you look around – they can be found everywhere – supermarkets, gas stations, coffee shops, restaurants and specialty stores
• Every strip mall has a donut shop and many urban areas now have a high-end donut place everyone raves about
• Donuts are loved by many
• Cheap and in its classic form – glazed or filled or sprinkled
• Or expensive – as a gourmet product with a unique twist
  • My city has a shop that sells square donuts
    • I have seen lines out the door driving by
  • I have noticed donuts on restaurant menus with fried chicken in the middle
  • I have bought donuts for others that requested them with bacon on top
    • And I had to call in prior to reserve them because they are so popular that they sell out quickly
  • People like donuts and the box in my office demonstrates this
  • Its there every Friday – full in the morning, empty at the end of the day
  • But the donuts are not eaten in a linear fashion, as you might think
    • One by one over the course of the morning
    • this observations was probably what propelled me to continue analyzing the donut box because it surprised me
    • I noticed a different trend – Friday after Friday
    • And call me weird, but I wish I could collect this data and plug into a chart to see what it shows us
    • But in absence of the facts, you just have to make do with my remembering of my observations
  • In the morning when the pink box first arrives – usually around 8 – its propped open by the purchaser, displaying all the contents
  • There they are – the donuts shine in their sweet beauty – calling on everyone to take one with their coffee
  • Finance is probably the one team that is fully in attendance by 8.30am
  • Everyone else rolls in around 9-9.30
  • When I get there, by around 8.20 – the box has just arrived, and is still full
  • When I walk by around 9.30 to 10, which is my breakfast time – maybe a couple of donuts are missing
    • A few brave ones went to get their fix
    • But otherwise the box is still pretty full
  • This was the first thing that caught my attention
  • I was surprised to see the box close to full so late in the morning
  • Most people eat Breakfast early and then take their lunch around noon
    • That’s not me, but I know in my office that’s what almost everyone does.
  • But our donut box shows major signs of emptying not until much later, after 10, closer to 11
    • Which is close to lunch time
  • I have seen people pop out behind cubicle walls, running over, grabbing one and getting right back to their desk
    • Nobody saw you, don’t worry, I often think
  • early in the morning – when the donuts first appear – people whine and complain
    • these devilled donuts again
    • not today – wont have any
  • But its around mid-morning when people grab their donuts
  • And then, very interestingly, around 2pm – when half the box is still full –a knife appears inside the box
  • By now someone has closed the box and Yes – I am opening it – looking into it
  • I know – its weird
  • And I notice – slowly – people start chopping away quarter pieces of the left-over donuts over the course of the afternoon
  • By 4pm, the box is usually empty or has one or 2 of the least favorite kind left over
  • I was fascinated by these observations
  • And you might not agree with my interpretations of the donut box but here is what I think is happening
  • People really don’t want to eat any donuts
  • I think by now everyone knows that donuts are bad for us
  • with an average of 300 calories per donut, mostly from refined carbs and saturated fats and zero nutritional value, donuts are literally junk that the body has to process
  • donuts serve as the perfect example to illustrate the concept of willpower
  • in the past I have dedicated several episodes to this hot topic and I will continue to come back to it
  • because willpower and mental toughness are skills we need in this ever more comfortable and cozier world we live in
  • what is happening inside the donut box is very similar to what is happening with everything else in our lives that we are trying to control
    • we are strong and determined in the beginning
    • we are focused on our goal
    • but as time moves on, our willpower fades
    • especially when temptation sits right under our nose
  • ultimately – we succumb
    • to our cravings
    • to what everyone else is doing
    • to our environment

• I assume donuts are a breakfast food –
  • That’s why donut shops open early – right?
• But in my office – they are more like a midmorning and an afternoon snack
• I don’t know if people eat something else first and then grab the donut as a snack, or if they are just sitting there trying to resist the entire time
• But what is clear to me is that people are trying not to eat donuts, otherwise they would eat them in the morning with their coffee
  • yet by the afternoon the box is empty
• With at least half the contents of the pink box eaten in the afternoon
  • Not linear at all

• One of the major reasons I don’t like donuts is that they never satisfy me like regular food
• I need to eat 2 or 3 donuts to even full, but then of course I feel sick if I eat that many
• 300 calories worth of chicken or egg whites fill me up and leave me feel energized
• While 300 calories worth of donut leave me in a sugar rush and craving more
• This clearly demonstrates that donuts cannot even be considered food
• They don’t nourish and satiate the body
• Donuts are bad
• No matter how appealing they look in that pretty box and with that shiny glaze – they are useless for our body and don’t add value to our health or our energy
• Yet in my office, in the Finance department – it’s a tradition to bring donuts on Fridays and people eat them
• If these donuts were not there, they would not be eaten
• The pink donut box is a perfect example that illustrates the power our environment has over us
• I know most of the people eating these donuts don’t want to eat them
  • That’s why they don’t touch them first thing in the morning
  • That why some don’t touch them until after lunch
  • That’s why they start chopping off small pieces as the day progresses
• Because self control wanes as the day goes on
• And I don’t blame or judge any of the people that eat the donuts
• They are just in my walking path from my office to the kitchen
• But for the finance team – they are right in the middle of their area
• And with the box sitting there, people have to deny themselves the donuts all they long
  • They don’t have to look at it – they know its there
  • Enforced by the tradition they established – donuts every Friday
•  
• In the morning we are fresh and equipped with a strong will
• But as our energy is spent on mental and physical tasks over the course of the day – our self control is lowered as well
• You see –
• For me donuts may not be the issue
• But we have some really amazing snacks in another part of the office that are much harder for me to resist
• And if these snacks sat right outside my office, I would struggle just like the people who eat the donuts

• The pink donut box in my office teaches us everything we want to know about reaching our goals, establishing good habits and getting rid of bad ones, and becoming a mentally stronger person
• Every Friday people in my office don’t reach their fitness and health goals because of that pink box
  • And I don’t need to know what these are, but I see it
• From that box, we can not only learn more about our levels of self control but we can also gain insight about our environment
• That pink box represents everything that’s wrong with our modern world
  • The food that is appealing to our senses but bad for our body
  • The ubiquitous presence of food in our lives that shows up, seemingly out of nowhere, constantly tempting us, even when we are not hungry
• As a side note, this week I was at the airport
  • I ate my lunch at home prior to leaving
  • But when I saw all the really good food at the airport – and I mean good – high end restaurants – I found myself thinking about food again
  • I questioned whether I should eat again – just in case I get hungry on my one hour plan trip
  • I bet this “just-in-case” thinking not only occurs to me
• anyway
• I realized that this donut box can help us understand why we struggle with our goals and our plans
• Because just like any good plan – stuff comes up and gets in the way
• Donut boxes appear even when we prepared all our meals and are on a strict plan
• Temptations, detours, unexpected events and obstacles – they will always interrupt our plans
• If we are determined – We need to learn how to deal with them
  • We cant fight the donuts – they are popular – people will continue to eat them
  • Food will continue to be around us 24/7
  • I don’t know who eats all this food, but someone must because if it didn’t sell, the places would not be there

• That pink donut box made me realize how important it is that we take control of our lives
• If we want something, really want it
• Its not enough to just be motivated
• We need to plan on disruptions and prepare for them
• That way, we don’t eat the donuts or the snacks or whatever happens to show up that derails us from our course
• Its not only food
  • People will often change our direction
  • Unexpected events
  • Our own thoughts which are filled with fear, worry and doubt
• We need to prepare ourselves so we can come out as a winner
• And in our next episode I will cover a few strategies that can help you do so

• So be sure to listen

Until then

Much love