Make It Easy To Work Hard
Our life is frittered away by detail.
Simplify, simplify.
- Henry David Thoreau
We often over complicate things. We get lost in the weeds in the name of “optimization”. The intent is good, but over time we lose sight of what’s important: the focus shifts to maintaining the protocols versus maximizing our average performances.
In these cases, it’s best to simplify things. What are the key habits that make it easy to work hard?
Maybe it is one of our extravagant protocols, or maybe it’s as simple as making sure we drink four whole bottles of water throughout the day. The habits that we focus on might change over time, but most of us would be better off focusing on the basics. When the habits that we have are hard to execute, we stop executing them and thus, they stop helping. Start with the ones that are easy to do and build from there.
A great way to do this is to make it a game:
Pick one to three habits or actions you can do daily
Give yourself a dedicated amount of time - 3 weeks is typically long enough to make a change but short enough that you don’t lose sight of the end
Write a note on your phone with check box next to it (or go old school and use a calendar/planner) with the habit.
For example: I’ve been using four water droplet emoji’s to signify four bottles of water I’m trying to drink throughout the day.
Customize it for you: your game can be daily, weekly etc.
I’ve found that this helps make it “fun” (loose definition there), and is a little better than aiming for “streaks” because once your streak ends on an off day it can be hard to start up again. This allows the game to start over each day and the focus to be in the present moment.
Once we get the ball rolling, it’s hard to stop the momentum. When it becomes difficult to make poor decisions we are truly “winning” the game because we’re almost always fully prepared for the next workout. Consistency in workouts is set up by consistency in our habits.
Nail the basics: pick one of these things to focus on, or add in another
Sleep 8 hours (or as close as you can) each day
Fuel well: monitor energy levels and get appropriate levels of fat, protein and carbs
Hydrate: get ½ your body weight in ounces of water daily, plus whatever else you need from a workout standpoint
Limit excess sugar and alcohol
Have fun with your training!
It doesn’t have to be any more complicated than this!
Happy training,