Hello!
Hope you are having a good weekend. I had a great evening yesterday - we caught up with a few friends and our dogs caught up as well. Which also means my dog is still passed out from her raucous efforts and I get to do this undisturbed.
On to the 3 things for today.
on effort vs outcomes
on the time we’ve created
on buying peace of mind
Let’s get on with it!
on effort vs outcomes
We are measured by the results we produce. Even in the realm of fitness and nutrition, we measure ourselves by the results only.
How many kilos did I lose?
How much am I squatting today?
What is my current waist size?
All great, valid and pertinent questions.
I had already played games where I ensured the results were checked off while sleepwalking through the effort part of it. I knew that did not work for me. Not anymore. So, deep down, I knew that effort matters more.
One, I can control the effort I put in. I cannot control the result. I cannot control the outcome. Yes, as much as I'd like to think I can, it just does not work that way. Even if the training plan is designed by someone amazing, what I control is the effort.
Two, the journey matters more than the destination. The destination is a pitstop, a milestone, a place to stop along the way. Not the summit. Not the "I am done!" point that we assume it is.
Here’s what I think all of this means.
Control what you can control. Control your effort.
Measure the results. If they are not what they are supposed to be, look at the effort. Sometimes they require more time and/or more effort.
Don't expect results. Don't expect outcomes.
Don't measure yourself by outcomes.
Measure yourself based on your effort.
Or to simplify, Did you give it your best shot? Well done. That is all.
on the free time we’ve created
I don't need to cook food. I can order from a restaurant. I can have a cook who makes my meals.
I don't need to pick that food up. I don't need to call the restaurant, I don't need to drive there and come back. I can just use an app.
I don't need to drive anywhere. I can call a cab.
I don't need to do my dishes or clean my house. I can hire help for that.
If I need to reach someone, I can call them or email them and reach them within 30 seconds.
Some of the many ways in which we've saved time, either via technology or by hiring people to do some of the work we don't want to do.
All of this should mean more time in our day, right? All of these and the stuff I've not listed out can easily add up to an hour a day.
Then why are we all time-poor?!
on buying peace of mind
Fitness, nutrition, and health are the latest fads. And well, since they can actually be good for you and life-changing, I have grown to be okay with people doing random things. Not that anyone asked me for my opinion.
Within these fads though is an opportunity for a good chunk to actually make certain routines and habits a lifestyle. Because that's the larger point that I believe in - you need to make healthier changes to your life for the rest of your life. They need not be the same but you are generally going to keep making forward progress for a long, long time.
That’s a difficult mindset to get to at the start. Which is why fads are fine to kick things off. Because you might stumble on to something good. Even a not-so-good answer can lead to amazing things. For example, CrossFit has created a revolution in fitness even though there are some flawed concepts it promotes.
Having an impartial set of assessments is vital to know if we are on the right track or not. Setting right goals forms part of this process but that’s another story, and it is not so easy as well.
So, based on what you are trying to do, come up with quantitative and qualitative methods to assess periodically.
This can include you answering the following questions.
am I enjoying this?
am I making forward progress? This involves measuring a few variables. Waist and weight for fat loss, or fitting into your old clothes. Blood markers for health. Productivity. Happiness. Mental alertness. Some are vague and require you to be qualitative. Some are quantitative.
does this make sense?
is this sustainable i.e. can I do this for 2 years?
And somehow, we know we are doing the right thing when we do it. It just seems to make sense. Everything feels a bit clearer in our heads. We are not confused anymore. We are not clueless. And then, magic happens.
Because we know our effort matters. And since effort is all we control, we can redouble our efforts. Or at least, stay on the path.
We feel recharged. We feel mentally confident. We know what we are doing.
There's clarity. And with clarity, there's peace of mind.
And once you have that peace of mind, you are not easily waylaid or confused by
But my weight hasn't dropped
I have to lose 10 kilos in 10 weeks
Should I do a keto diet + do this intermittent fasting?
And a CrossFit session in the morning and a short HIIT workout in the evening?
Oh, how long do I have to keep this up?
Can I have ice-cream?
I had ice-cream but I feel so guilty.
When can I have a 'cheat' meal? Can I have a cheat meal? Should I have one?
and so on. Instead, you know you are on the path. What you are doing is making you better, and you can keep going.
And once you find peace of mind, you don’t fall into fads. You don’t worry about a lack of progress. You measure effort and not results. You look for long-term sustainability and not short-term outcomes. You keep going.
I hope you found one of these posts useful. As always, thank you for sparing a few minutes from your day on this. I appreciate it!
Have a great week ahead, and I’ll connect with you next week.
