If you’re of a certain age, this tip’s title may have caused you to conjure up an image of a fight scene from a Batman cartoon. If you’re not of a certain age, this will give you an idea of what those of us “of a certain age” are picturing:
In any case, a BAM in the case of building momentum is something entirely different than Batman giving some bad guy a good wallop. But before we get to that definition, I’m going to ask you to conjure up another memory.
A successful endeavor
I’d like you to think of a time when you considered yourself successful. It can be in any context: an important relationship, your career, an athletic or academic achievement, creating an awesome piece of art, keeping that plant in your bedroom window alive… You get the idea.
Do you have a memory in mind?
Good.
Now think about some of the actions that you completed to make that situation a reality. And when you have a few of those actions in mind, remember how often you generally did each of them.
OK. Memory-conjuring task complete.
Did you realize anything specific about your “success memory”?
In case you didn’t notice, chances are high that, no matter the situation you were remembering, you took a few key (and basic) actions frequently and consistently in order to produce the intended outcome. Chances are also high that you weren’t perfect in completing the task. And, yet, you still remembered the situation as having had a successful outcome.
So what does all that have to do with building momentum? What’s a BAM? And how does that apply to training or nutrition?
Making progress with small, consistent steps
In most projects or tasks, we instinctually recognize that success hinges on our (selves and/or team) completing certain steps consistently and to a minimum standard. And while the beginning of most projects is often challenging, we also often recognize when common tasks become easier, momentum builds, and a little bit of time is the only thing that stands between where we are and the successful completion of said project. We know that work still needs to be completed, but we also know we’re “on a roll” and will eventually finish.
This concept also applies to achieving health and fitness related goals. Unfortunately, when it comes to nutrition and training, we often find ourselves in the mindset of “starting over again” after some type of layoff (e.g. injury, illness, the weekend). In other words, we’ve lost our momentum.
And that’s where a BAM—that is, a “bare ass minimum”—can help out.
As simple as simple can be
A good bare ass minimum has only a few key characteristics:
- It’s the minimum amount of work that we need to complete in order to feel that we’ve taken at least a small step toward our goal.
- It’s a small enough task to be almost harder to not complete on a regular (usually daily) basis than it is to complete.
- It should rarely change/increase. If it does, then it’s no longer a “minimum”.
- Its main purpose is to help us develop the habit of consistency and, subsequently, to build momentum.
Notice that completing our BAM doesn’t mean that we can’t do more on any given day to make progress toward our goal. Rather, it acts as either an inspirational primer to do more or a reminder that we keep the promises we make to ourselves.
Putting it into practice
This week create one BAM related to at least one of your current goals and start doing it every day!
Feel free to create other BAMs for more than one goal. However, you shouldn’t create multiple BAMs for a single goal. Remember that the main purpose is to help us develop the habit of consistency, and more than one BAM for a single goal simply muddies the waters!
One more quick caution: the mistake that most people make when creating a BAM is making it too big. On a scale of 1 (easy) to 10 (difficult), a BAM should be a one. Not a two or more. One.
That means you can do it even when you’re ill. Or when you’re exhausted after working a 16-hour day. Or when you simply had a busy day and just forgot about it until you were ready to climb into bed.
Here’s a list of good and not-so-good examples to prime your thinking:
Not-so-good BAMs:
- Walk around the block; jog a mile
- Drink 10 cups of water/day
- Write 1000 words for a new book
- Spend at least 30 minutes cleaning out the basement every day until its done
Better BAMs:
- Do 5 body weight squats
- Drink 1 cup of water/day
- Write one sentence for a new book
- Put one item from the basement where it belongs
Steal any of the BAMs in the “better” category if they resonate with you, or use them as primers to develop your own. Of course, remember when you’re putting them into practice that they’re “primers” and you can do extra if you feel so inspired.