Success is a series of small wins
This is the typical trajectory that someone has when they get started on a fitness or health kick:
1. Get motivated enough to get into the gym.
2. Do a long workout.
3. Get really sore.
4. Miss your next workout.
5. Maybe get another workout in a few days to a week later, maybe not.
6. Get overwhelmed with other priorities.
7. Settle back into your old routine.
You’ve probably done this multiple times in your life, maybe dozens.
Substitute workouts for starting a diet or a stretching routine or any other wellness or health kick and now maybe you’ve done this hundreds of times!
And of course, you’re not any better off than you were. There is no significant transformation.
The power to change doesn’t come through motivation. It comes through consistency. It comes through patient and relentless commitment to daily practice.
If an objective is too big to achieve or reach swiftly, then you must build a road to it, brick by brick.
Herein lies the flip side of the coin to success. You must pick an appropriate goal to practice.
Something based on your current skill, ability, and consistency level and build a streak of unbroken practice. It could be as simple as a 15 minute walk every day or it could be as daunting as working towards an elite calisthenics move.
Then, find a rewarding way to track your practice. I personally prefer a simple “X” marked in my calendar. As a caution, though, don’t get hung up if you break your streak. Just get back up on the horse and practice again.
80-90% adherence to an “ideal” unbroken streak is actually optimal. It gives you enough grace to feel human, and enough effort to actually make progress.
De-emphasize whatever you think perfection looks like. DEFINITELY de-emphasize motivation. Emphasize taking a meaningful, daily action whether you feel like it or not.
P.S. This is why a habit-based perspective used in in-person sessions can be so effective. The standing appointment to show up and practice strength and conditioning ensures that you get total-body work each week.
Now, on top of that buy-in level of consistency, we can add ONE thing to work on at a time.
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