It has been said that great truth requires little to no explanation. In keeping with that inspiration, we will keep this one as short as possible.
We are all familiar with the idea of being too "big to fail" as what we saw with our banking system circa 2008. Regardless of your opinions on the matter, you must admit that size matters in more ways than one.
Many of us think something as large as our banks are too big to fail and that bailing them out would be for the greater good of all. Again for a sec put aside your beliefs, and stay with me.
By the end, I think you will realize we can use this idea to our advantage but by flipping it on its head.
In nutrition and fitness (and in life really) doing the smallest things over and over again give you the power to overcome what you previously thought impossible or too hard.
For some context, think about a big undertaking you have attempted and failed at... or maybe you just didn't do as well as you would have hoped.
Maybe it was losing weight, getting a degree, starting a business, etc. You probably were really excited in the beginning imagining how fun and cool it will be once you reach your goal. This excitement in just a few days turns into an overwhelming feeling of fear as to how to complete such a tall order. Only setting this big lofty goal ultimately brings out a fear within us. Some live off that fear and it forces them into action, but the majority are crippled by it and revert to poor habits.
This fear comes from many places but boils down to some past times when we came up short. We are letting our fear of past experiences dictate our present decisions and a cycle occurs.
So how do we break this cycle?
In order to get something different we eventually have to do something different. In our Coaching Program, we simply say "What if we did the opposite?"
Take a look at the pyramid below. Most people that seek weight loss start opposite of what actually works.
In our opinion and what we have seen work the best with our clients is finding something too small to fail.
Take exercise... nobody "has enough time" is the most common obstacle we hear. You may not be able to workout 5x per week right now or even 2x and that's actually normal. Life can get crazy if we let it... so let's try the opposite.
Adopt a daily habit of just moving a little bit each day for 5-10 mins. This could be going for a walk or doing some bodyweight moves at home right after work as an example.
What matters most is that YOU are choosing something that reinforces your identity as a "healthier" person and that moves you closer to the person you say you want to be.
Healthy, smart, active, full of life, etc. and YOU are choosing something you know you can not fail at, because it is something you enjoy, it's your rules and it fits in with your identity... in other words, it's genuine and real to you.
The irony here is that small hinges swing big doors and before you know it that walk around the block done over a period of time will leave you choosing "better" when it comes to exercise and food.
And as a by-product of your healthy behavior and habit choices, you will lose weight almost effortlessly as our clients have described in the past.
This also works in nearly every area of life in whatever goals you are pursuing. Small daily action with the idea of being 1% better each day is how amazing things are accomplished. (In truth there really is no other way for long-term success which is really the goal when you say you want to be healthy).
So, steal this productivity and life-changing habit from the Pros and put it into play. We guarantee you won't believe how something so small (that can't fail) could lead to something so big... after all isn't that how life works in reality?
- Wendy & Dan
PS - Here is a small bonus if you are interested in bettering your health and maybe losing a few pounds.
The next 21 days are going to transform how you think, eat and move.
Start here: 21-Day Wellness Reboot