Consistency is the single most important ingredient for success. It doesn’t matter how much you know, how good your strategy or tactics are or how big your resources are - if you cannot move forward consistently, you will always be playing catch up.
In triathlon training, “junk” miles refer to the training you put in on the bike and on the road in building up your base fitness. They don’t contribute directly to your success, but without them you are never going to reach the heights of your potential.
Any workout today will be better for you than doubling up on your workout tomorrow. Spending ten minutes reading your children a bedtime story every day will be more valuable to them than saving it up for one hour at the weekend. One sales call a day is better than cramming in twenty on the last week of the month.
A common mistake in planning is that we overestimate what we can accomplish in the short term, and underestimate what we can achieve in the long term. We cram too much into the first and second week of our plan (or change plan) and only have a very vague idea of what’s coming up in the third and fourth week. Set yourself up for success but time blocking your important goals into your calendar. When I was beginning my exercise program, just ten minutes walk a day was my target. I knew I could achieve this on a long term basis, and this helped me build up a core base of fitness.
When you are looking to make a life change, don’t start with a radical change. Pick activities that you can achieve in the long term. Don’t say you will go to the gym six times a week if you can’t block out the time on your calendar on a consistent basis. Start with a small, simple activity. I am trying to reduce my caffeine intake at the moment. But I love my coffee - especially home brewed. Just love the smell. So rather than cut it out or limit it to the weekend (which I did with chocolate!), I decided to have a coffee every other day. This has turned out to be fairly easy. So I have cut down on my caffeine and I enjoy my coffee every more now.
Pick an area you want to improve in and pick a super small, super easy activity that you could start today and continue over a long period of time. The main benefit of this is it reduces some people’s natural tendency to procrastinate. You can start immediately. How could I tell myself that I could not go for a ten minute walk every day? It’s impossible. And if you really can’t commit to such a small step, perhaps you have the wrong goal.
Start small and consistent. Then as you improve you will be able to decide on how to step up your activity to reach your targets.
I revived my exercise program about one month ago and I have been consistently taking small steps on my running. In this time, I have had 23 exercise slots. I started by just walking, then added in a minute or two of running, and now am moving into my run/walk program. I do a 5 minute warm-up and 5 minute warm-down and now I am doing a 4 minute run / 1 minute walk module. This means that I run for 4 minutes, then walk for 1 minute. So I am running about 50% of the total time of my work out (including the warm ups and downs).
As I use a treadmill, I can work with speeds and heartrate to guide my progress. Currently I run between 9.0km/hr and 7.0km / hr. At the same time I observe my heartrate. It is currently within 50-60% of my maximum heart rate which is acceptable for base training. I talk about how to calculate your maximum heart rate here.
So now that I am building up my time running, I adjust total work-out time (20-35 mins), speed while running (my target is 10km/hr) and my heartrate (so I can do more exercise with less exertion). The biggest lesson here is that small and consistent is the only way to build up a healthy fitness level.
I also have a target for my first triathlon of the year: an Olympic distance in Suixian in Henan province in China. Here’s to a healthy year for you and your family.
Have you ever found yourself waiting for the “right moment” when everything will be just right so you can get started with your plans to {insert your change here}, examples may include lose weight, go scuba diving, call your parents, move to the countryside.
Many people I talk to are waiting for this perfect moment when all the stars are aligned, the inbox gets cleared and the children are old enough and …. and so on. Here’s the bad news. There is no such thing as a perfect time to start something. And here’s the good news. There is no such thing as a perfect time to start something. So you better start now. This type of procrastination is also linked to the pursuit of perfection. Not wanting to start until “something” is perfect. We can learn a lot from nature. A flower doesn’t wait until the weather is perfect before coming out. It gets ready to bloom every day. It is primed and ready to grow. The beauty of nature is created through intense activity.
Marketing whizz Jay Abrahams says that a mediocre marketing plan implemented consistently over a long period of time, will outperform a “perfect” marketing plan. Successful companies, like Nike’s Just Do It, stick to a message and use it consistently. Abrahams points out that it’s often advertising companies who encourage companies to change their messaging so that they can bill for new campaign creative work. The question for you is- are you putting perfection before consistency?
When coaching clients, I always look for small actions that can be made immediately. Action and the momentum this builds is the most important factor in moving a client towards an important goal. Sometimes a client will want to spend a long time talking about and analysing a situation from five different angles and talk theoretically about what could have happened if he did X, Y and Z. This is all very therapeutic and can help create awareness. But success is built on action. Consistent action towards a specific goal.
What goal have you been putting off waiting for a better situation? Identify one small action that in 15 minutes would put you closer to your goal. Have you been meaning to take off some of that winter weight but still waiting for the weather to get warmer? Book a day session in a gym. Take a friend. Go there and do some light exercise. Have a sauna. Enjoy the action you are taking. Always look for the small actions that when applied consistently on a daily and weekly basis will see you towards your end goal.
One of my goals this year is to compete in 3-4 Olympic distance triathlon races. Each event takes me around 3 hours and is considered a full marathon equivalent race. While each event is manageable in itself (1.5km swim, 40km bike and 10k run), adding them together makes it a challenge! The best way to get ready for these type of endurance events is consistent exercise. Though with a new book launch, a busy consulting practice and international travel it can be difficult to find the time. But I know that even a 15 - 20 min run three times a week is better for me than waiting and doing a one hour run once a week. Small drops all add up.
Take action: Look at one of your important goals for 2009. Find one that you have not taken action on in the last 2 -3 weeks. Identify a single action you can take that can be completed in less than 20 minutes. Take action on it today. Start looking for other 20 minute actions you can take in the next week.
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