As we move forward into 2024, I bet many of us are leaving our New Year’s resolutions with January in the rear view mirror.
And, although New Year’s is a hot time for setting goals, many of which are health related (I), I figure that failing to follow through isn’t an issue that’s unique to January.
But, why is this the case? In an era where we have more tools and information for making progress than ever before, why are we struggling to adhere to our plans?
I suppose there are many culprits to blame. In a previous post, I addressed how properly measuring results over time is one of them. I think this is especially the case when it comes to health and fitness goals, in that they typically take a while to accomplish.
For example, if you want to build a significant amount of muscle or lose a lot of fat, you’re looking at months if not years.
Notably, not only does it take a while to reach the end of the tunnel with these goals, but it takes a while for the first light to shine through as well. In other words, it’ll take many trips to the gym and countless victories in the kitchen before you start to notice the initial results of your hard work—whether that be starting to look a little more muscular or leaner.
In my experience observing/talking to friends and family, this lag in initial results is an issue because it leaves you without any reward to positively reinforce your new habits—whether that be lifting weights, spending time on the stair-climber, or cutting back on dessert.
And, I’ve experienced this friction myself. I can clearly remember staring down at the scale as a scrawny high school freshman only to see more or less the same number I’d seen the last two weeks. I can also clearly remember the look on my strength and conditioning coach’s face that said I wasn’t the first impatient athlete he had to tell to give the gains some time to come into fruition.
For this reason—the deceiving lag in results that can strip your confidence in pursuing a health and fitness goal—I’ve found it useful sometimes to focus on execution rather than results when it comes to gauging success. This is the old, “trust the process,” idea. Or, in other words, this is the idea that sometimes it’s useful to keep your eyes on your tactics (short-term execution) while leaving your strategy (long-term vision) in the backdrop.
For example, rather than judging your weight-loss success based on what the scale says, you could base your success on how many times you go to the gym each week or how many days you stick to your diet. From this perspective, “winning” simply means doing the work without any regard for the results–turning our “bug” (i.e. our issue of lagging initial results) into our “feature” (i.e. our advantage).
In my opinion, not only does this approach feed into your drive in the short-term by stacking up wins week to week, but it builds the foundation for consistently executing over the long-term. Most importantly, it gets you through the lag and to the point where the real results start to shine through.
And, if you’re anything like I was as that 130 pound (when soaking wet) high school basketball player looking to bulk up, you’ll have all of the drive you need once you have proof that the work you put in will lead to the results you’re chasing. In this way, making it to the part where the fruits of your labor become apparent can mean not only achieving this health and fitness goal but another one and the next one after that. On the contrary, failing to get over the hump might leave you wondering what everybody saying that health and fitness pursuits are so rewarding and addictive is talking about.
So, instead of paying all of your attention to strategy and results, try shifting some of your focus to measuring the work that’s required to get those results—try focusing more on the tactics in the short-term. At least, that’s what I would tell that younger me.
P.S. Is it a ridiculous idea to subscribe for more useful health and fitness content for FREE?
If not, hit that subscribe button below.