Hey folks!
I am taking a few days off from the city. So, no audio today. And I’ll not be posting next Sunday as well - taking a short writing break.
On to the 3 things for today.
To heck with before-afters
You need goals. You need a point B. You need to know when you've arrived.
Most of you start with a goal in mind. It is dependent on where we are currently. The "I want to not be here" clarity leads to action towards point B.
A lot of you fail in getting to point B. This happens due to poor methods, poor coaching, poor goal setting, amongst many reasons.
But what about those of you who get to point B? You celebrate. Deservedly. You take a few photos - you couldn't fit into your favourite pants before and you slide into them after. Or you were this strong before and you are so much stronger after.
Definitely a huge milestone moment.
But unless you wake up the next day and plot your next target, you are doomed. Because what you should truly be measuring is not the crazy motivated 8 weeks of effort, with the brilliant results. But what happens 2 months after that? What happens 6 months after that?
If you are not able to keep off the darned weight, if you lose all the strength you worked hard for, if you are back to square one ... what a waste!
To heck with before-afters as the only thing you think about. Stop with the endless cycle. Stop with the comfort zone of diets - whether you do well or you fail.
Set a higher standard. Have a longer outlook in mind.
Instead of just before-after, this subtle change will catapult your fitness journey. Measure the after-after - the 2-months-after and 6-months-after.
Your goal can simply be maintenance. Which is anything but simple.
3 quotes for this week
Suddenly,
from behind the rim of the moon,
in long, slow-motion moments of immense majesty,
there emerges a sparkling blue and white jewel,
a light, delicate sky-blue sphere laced with slowly swirling veils of white,
rising gradually like a small pearl in a thick sea of black mystery.
It takes more than a moment to fully realise this is Earth .... Home.
– Edgar Mitchell
We are hurtling on a large rock at 30 kilometres per second, that spins around every 24 hours, around a gargantuan star that is blazingly hot but gives us life coz we happen to be exactly the right distance from it.
Isn't that nuts?!?!?!
We start by dissolving our attitude, not by altering outer conditions.
– Bruce Lee
Internal. Not external. That's where we hold immense power.
Sometimes you have to play a long time to be able to play like yourself.
– Miles Davis
I was pointed to this quote by a friend and it felt perfect. With each passing year, I feel I know myself a bit better. It has taken me 3 careers and multiple decades to get here and I can look back and see how many times I've misled myself by aping something else. Something else that I thought I needed to be. The more you be you, the more you discover your talents. Be you.
How to smoke and drink and live to be a 100
There are people who drink massive amounts of alcohol and smoke cigarettes daily and live to be 100. But most people who tend to that kind of behaviour do not.
There are people who seem to eat whatever they want and never seem to put on weight. But most people tend to put on a lot of weight, develop metabolic disorders and have a difficult time losing weight.
There are people who never seem to study but ace exams.
The world is full of exceptions, it feels like. Most things though, tend to follow the norm. Well, at least in health and fitness.
Eat well, stay active, get enough sleep, maintain good relationships - you have all the ingredients for a happy life.
Stop trying to find loopholes and workarounds and hacks. It pays to be off the beaten path, to forge your own way, to carve your own whatever and all that.
To take care of your health, do sensible and obvious things. It is that simple.
That’s that for this week. You have a great weekend, and I’ll see you in 2 weeks.