Vikram Narayan

Season three of The Bear released a few weeks ago, and the show’s been on my mind a lot since then.

Since it came out in 2022, it’s been one of my favorite shows. It’s incredibly intense and stressful, but it’s also humanistic and uplifting. The characters feel real – they’re both talented and flawed – and their interactions are always captivating.

While the show is consistently great, there’s one episode that is my favorite by far – Forks. In it, Richie is sent to Carmy’s mentor Chef Terry’s restaurant to learn from the best. He goes from being resentful and cynical about restaurant life to “getting it” – he undergoes a mindset shift, and you can see the fire in him being lit. It’s so great to see a character who feels like he amounts to nothing realize his passion and his potential.

And within this episode – my favorite scene is the one where Richie and Chef Terry (played by Olivia Colman) talk while peeling mushrooms. Chef Terry affirms Carmy’s belief in Richie while recounting how her previous restaurant failed in humiliating and public fashion, and how she bounced back from it. As she says – “Never too late to start over.”

She describes going through her father’s notebook, noting that every entry signs off the same way. As she leaves, Richie says, “You never said what he signed off with.” but she’s already gone. But he looks at the clock, and sees the sign below it:

The instant I saw this, I loved it. I don’t have any tattoos, but if I were to get one, it would likely be this phrase.

What “Every Second Counts” Means to Me

To me, “every second counts” is extremely motivating – it means to make the best use of every second you have, because every second is precious. Every second is an opportunity to do better and be better. In times when I feel unmotivated, it reminds me to keep progressing forward.

However, I realize that one could interpret the quote as, “any second spent not in pursuit of a goal is wasted time.” I don’t think anyone should agonize over whether every second of their life is spent “optimally” – down that path lies madness. But, every so often (how often will vary person to person), retrospecting on how you spend your time is a good exercise.

A second can “count” for many things – career goals, personal goals, time with family and friends. Just do your best to ensure that every second counts for something you care about.