Let me tell you a story about an extraordinary recipe, one that had been handed down for generations, a recipe for meatloaf that was the centerpiece of every family celebration and holiday dinner. 

On the day in question, those responsible for preparing the dinner realized that the 7 year old great-grandson was now ready to learn the family recipe. Needless to say, when they found him and told him they needed him in the kitchen so they could teach him to make meatloaf, he jumped up immediately and started running to the kitchen. His mother got a stool for him to stand on and an apron. She showed him the proportions of the different meats and taught him about the eggs and breadcrumbs. Together they combined the herbs and spices and then mixed everything together until it looked just right. Once it was the right consistency, she showed him how to mold it into a free-form loaf, cut an inch off each end, and place it in the oven to bake for an hour at 350 degrees.

He turned to her and asked the obvious question…

 “Why do we cut an inch off each end?”

His mother looked up at him with a puzzled look on her face. 

“I’m not really sure.  Let’s ask your grandmother.”

The two of them went in to find her mother and asked the same question. Again, there was a quizzical look…

“I’m not sure either but Great-Grandma is sitting in the living room and it’s her recipe.” 

They went together to find the matriarch of the family. She looked up as they entered the room and he started to speak…

“Grandma, I have a question for you.”  She looked at him and he continued, “Why do we cut an inch off of each end of the meatloaf before we bake it?” 

She started laughing and responded, “That’s how big my pan was!”

Click here for a great article on the history of meatloaf (and the source of this photo)

It’s not hard to find examples of the “meatloaf rule” in our personal and professional lives.  Many of the incrementally small but steady improvements in medicine have been the result of someone saying… “Wait a minute…just why do we do it that way?”* 

The same applies for our own well-being and growth. Some of the ways we’ve learned to be and act have been passed down for generations by our family and our teachers, but no longer serve us. 

Here’s the practice: Look for examples of the “meatloaf rule” in your life. Use humor, use contemplation, use whatever works, but learn to recognize and then change the things that you were taught and now do automatically… but which no longer serve you. 

*One of my favorite examples is how we have decreased the total days of antibiotics we use to treat appendicitis after folks asked if we really needed to do it the way we were always taught. We’ve gone from 2 touchdowns (14 days) to 1 touchdown (7 days), to stopping them when they are no longer helping (decided by a variety of signs and symptoms that indicate the patient has successfully conquered the infection). And yes, I meant touchdowns. It has always struck me as somewhat hilarious (and maybe a little worrisome?) that we give antibiotics based on (American) football scores.( 3,7,10,14,21). I know – It’s not really football scores. But having 5 fingers on a hand and 7 days in the week isn’t that much better of an explanation!