If you’ve been following along the past few weeks, you’re roughly two-thirds done with 31 Simple. With only about ten days to go, now is the perfect time to review your progress & expectations, re-commit to your remaining work, and decide what to do next. So lets do that now!
If you’re new to Trainer Tip Tuesday or missed any of the past three weeks’ tips, check out the notes on:
On progress & expectations
Hopefully you’ve noticed push-ups becoming easier over the past three weeks. But either way, laying the foundation for what’s to come in the next week and a half is really what’s been happening over that time.
Think of it like a plant’s growth cycle. You put a seed in some dirt and give it water and sunlight. Although you don’t see anything happen for awhile, the seed sprouts and roots start growing out of sight. After some time, the plant’s stalk finally breaks through the surface, and you can see the rest of the process unfold.
Training is similar. Bones, muscles, tendons, and other soft tissues become stronger and more resilient with consistent effort. We don’t necessarily notice changes at first, but progress does become visible at some point if we stick with our regimen long enough.
So spend a minute considering how you’ve progressed on 31 Simple to this point, even if that’s “simply” having stayed consistent. Also consider what you expected when you first started and if those expectations have evolved. Then…
Re-commit to your remaining effort
As I mentioned last week, the novelty of any new endeavor often helps us stay consistent even if the effort feels particularly challenging. But we’re more likely to fall off the wagon around the midpoint of the process because that’s when the novelty wears off and the grind begins.
The grind is that point when we realize we’ve been putting in consistent effort but maybe haven’t noticed any progress. Or, at least, the amount of progress that we expected when we first began. At that point, it’s easy to quit because the effort just doesn’t seem worth the benefit.
But if we’re pursuing a worthwhile objective that we find important, that’s exactly when we need to re-commit to seeing our task through to completion. Along with that final stretch of time being when we realize the results of our efforts, we also build confidence by finishing tasks that we set for ourselves. And it’s that confidence that helps us…
Decide what’s next
If you missed KG’s presentation a couple weekends ago about the process she went through to train for and become a Guinness World Record (GWR) holder in the kettlebell snatch†, here’s an overview of one of her most impactful points:
Below is an image that displays her progress over the past thirteen years. The two pictures on the bottom are the most similar ones she could find to compare her smile, attitude, and progress after physical activity.
The one on the left is after her very first day of kettlebell training with a group. In her own words, the look on her face was “an accurate depiction of my feelings on that day”. She was tired and sore over the next few weeks and months and needed to talk herself into going to every session by thinking about the cool people she’d get to hang out with.
The one on the right is after she snatched over 33,200 pounds in 60 minutes.
Again in her words:
“I was unable at this (left) end of things to even imagine that this (right) end of things was even a thing for someone like me. But I could imagine from #1 to #2, so I did it. And on and on.
It’s the same person in every picture. But it’s not. There’s a big distance between them. Because each time I got stronger. Each time I learned new stuff. Each time I met new people. The next thing was bigger and scarier. But it wasn’t.
If you have a goal that doesn’t seem big or important but you’re still thinking about it, then do it. It will lead to other things. Because you might still be in the middle of your timeline. This (GWR) won’t be appropriate for any other person. This is my timeline. But you can do something similar with your own.”
If you have zero desire to be a push-up GWR holder, that’s cool. (I don’t either!) So, you don’t have to continue with 31 Simple after you complete it. But you can still use it as a confidence-building stepping stone to move you along your own timeline. At least, you can as long as you decide what you’re doing next.
Putting it into practice
What is actually important to you?‡
Seriously, answer that question.
Got it? Good.
Now WOOP it. In fact, repeat the “OP” part as many times as you need in order to handle all of the obstacles you think you might encounter.
Then, when you finish with 31 Simple, celebrate for whatever time seems appropriate, and start implementing the “P” parts of what you decided was next.
† Accomplishments are forever, but records are made to be broken—as KG’s record has been and probably will be again.
‡ If you’re really not sure what could be next—or if you have an idea but don’t know how to make progress—we’re always here to help…