Happy New Year!
With every new year, you're probably starting to think to yourself, "New year, new me". And with that, you're thinking of the significant amounts of action you're going to take to move closer to the person you want to become.
You're ready to get in shape - so you're going to get that gym membership and go 6 days per week.
You're ready to finally make that career change - so you're going to apply to 10 jobs a day, redo your resume, and take a dozen courses to re-tool.
Maybe you're single and looking to date - you're going to overhaul your dating profile and go on 10 dates this week.
We often look to take massive action to get where we want to go - these short bursts of inspiration from a new year, a health scare, or FOMO, or comparing ourselves to those around us. And, we start taking massive action.
Perhaps this is the reason we're failing to reach our goals.
Let me explain.
When I first joined the gym in 2010, I started going 3 days per week. Once I was consistent and my body was used to it, I changed my routine and started going 5 days per week.
I remember a friend decided to come with me one day, and thought he would try to keep up. He could see that I was making some progress, and it inspired him to tag along for a workout. He followed along and stuck it out for the day, matching set for set, rep for rep.
The next week, his body was so sore, that he could barely move. And he wanted to keep coming to the gym - and he did, but he was stuck on the sidelines watching. His body was too sore to do anything.
And he eventually gave up and stopped coming.
You see, massive action might not be the answer.
Taking massive action is a great catalyst - it enforces change. It creates momentum, and objects in motion tend to stay in motion. But it has one severe drawback - we are only human.
There's a reason that a car doesn't stay at a high RPM for long periods - the engine would fail. What that looks like is even worse for humans, because we aren't machines.
Massive change can result in massive burnout - leaving us worse off than when we started. Now, we aren't where we want to be, AND we're tired. Even worse - we failed, just like we tell ourselves we would. Shame on us for trying something new.
So what is the answer?
I'm no expert, and this is all just a thought.
But perhaps it's the little, daily wins. Perhaps it's the small piece of action, compounded daily, that gets us to our goals. Perhaps the massive action can provide us the starter fluid we need to get the fire going, but the small, daily wins are what keep the fire going.
When I was growing up, we often played with fire: burning trees and starting (controlled) fires was just another day in my life growing up. And, a lot of times we used gasoline to start a fire. And, it worked great. What's an easier way to start burning some brittle, dry trees other than dousing them in gasoline and dropping a match?
But to MAINTAIN the fire, we added kindling and brush. We did NOT add more gasoline.
And that's really the way to solve this riddle. We need a catalyst, and that catalyst is massive action.
Join the gym. Commit to going. Buy the new pair of running shoes. Hire the resume coach to overhaul your resume. Plan to apply for jobs every day.
But start small, and compound the little wins. The small wins will amount to big wins. Instead of planning to go to the gym 5 days a week when you weren't going at all, start with 2 or 3 days. Instead of running every morning, why not start on Saturday and Sunday?
The older I've grown, the more I've come to realize that it's the little things that matter most. Massive action is just the catalyst - the small, daily actions are what make sustainable progress, keep us motivated, and help us achieve our goals.
I hope you found this useful. If you're a man in your 30s and 40s reading this, and fitness is one of your goals in 2024, I have a program coming soon that's just for you. You can contact me directly and I can share more.
Otherwise, if you like what you read, please consider giving this a share.
