There is one thing that is preventing most people from making any kind of positive change and moving forward in life. If you are one of those people, I don't know if you are ignoring this thing on purpose or if you are really not aware of it. But let's talk about it.
I've been given the great honor of having people from all around the world ask me daily for advice.
And when it comes to questions regarding accomplishing a specific goal or making any kind of positive change in life, there is one type of question in particular that always catches my attention.
"I have the information, but I lack execution. What should I do?"
"I know what I need to do; I also know the practical side of how to do it. But how do I actually get myself to do it?"
Unfortunately, this type of question is not rare. Actually, it's one of the most frequent questions I get.
In order to give the best answer I can, I want to tell you two short stories.
The first one is about an online training client I had some time ago.
Like most people I’ve been working with and most people in general, he’s been struggling with consistency and discipline. Years before we started working together, he was training and even enjoying it. But, like with most people, life happened. More and more things were taking priority over training until he completely stopped taking care of his body. And, for years, he couldn’t find the time and motivation to get back into it.
Those who are not reading my work for the first time know that I put consistency over everything. And there is no consistency without sustainability. So, for years, I’ve been developing my training methodology on the foundation of sustainability. Humans are not robots. We regularly face internal and external obstacles. That’s why expecting people to be consistent and follow a plan that was created with only the perfect conditions in mind always fails. Because no one has perfect internal and external conditions 100% of the time. That’s why, in order to create sustainability and, with it, consistency, you need a plan that takes into account the fact that you won’t be able to perform at your best every day. What matters is that you show up and put some work in. So that was the type of plan that I created for him. One of the ways to optimize for consistency was by implementing my method and creating a mini, plus, and elite version for every one of his workouts.
If you are not familiar with my consistency method, you can click here to check out this essay series where I shared free parts of my book on consistency as I was writing it. (The book is “The Art of Showing Up” which you can check out by clicking here.)
To save you time if you are not familiar with it: the basic idea was that he had a mini version of every workout that would last 6–8 minutes and would be used on those days when he would usually skip a more challenging or time-demanding workout. The plus version lasted around 15 minutes, and it was intended for those days when the mini version felt too small, but he still couldn’t do the full workout. And the elite version, which would be completing the full workout as intended. I’ve been personally using this method for every single habit that I wanted to adopt for over 5 years, and I've had every one of my clients use it. Also, members of the Sisyphus Society are now using it inside the consistency challenge for things ranging from language learning to preparing for triathlons. It’s a tried-and-tested method that has an almost perfect success rate. Almost perfect because sometimes the person has this one thing preventing them from moving forward, which is the point of this essay.
After just a couple of weeks, this client accumulated a couple of days where he entirely skipped his workout. He didn’t even do the mini version. On some days, he felt overwhelmed by work and didn’t have enough time. On other days, he didn’t have the motivation to do even the mini version.
But that was okay. I understand how difficult it can be to start moving forward when you’ve been stuck in one place for a while. So we adjusted his mini and plus versions and made them even less demanding. The new mini version would take around 3–5 minutes to complete. Most people would say that 3 minutes of physical activity is insignificant, but they couldn’t be more wrong. If your goal is consistency, this is how you create that positive momentum. You need something that you can absolutely do every day without fail.
However, this also wasn’t enough. After this new adjustment, he skipped most of the workouts that week. He didn’t even do the mini version. Once again: overwhelmed, no time, no motivation.
Throughout this whole process, the difficulty and length of the workout were not the only things I was using to optimize his training for consistency. From learning about his previous training experience, we made sure that his program was as fun and enjoyable as it could be.
So, at this point, I wasn’t left with many options.
I explained to him once again the whole consistency method and the importance of showing up, even if it’s for just 3-5 minutes and with little effort. But I wanted to make sure that he started creating that momentum at all costs, so I said, "And if you feel like you can’t even do the mini version, just give me one set of push-ups. It doesn’t have to be a set to failure. Just don’t end your day without doing anything. Do just one set of push-ups."
Three days later, he texted me to say that he did absolutely nothing for those three days.
Maybe I should’ve said this at the beginning, but I am talking about a healthy individual who, on his "good days," would complete a pretty challenging workout. He was given all the information and support that one could ask for. I've implemented all the consistency "hacks" and "tricks." But there was still no execution.
So what was the deal here?
Maybe you get the idea of where this is going, but let me tell you another story. I don’t want to sound like I’m just bashing other people, so the second story is about my own failings.
I first got interested in diet and nutrition around 12 years old, and I’ve been studying and experimenting with it ever since. Over the years, I've tried almost every popular and unpopular diet. And I've used, as well as created myself, all sorts of diet "hacks."
And one "hack" I use when I am trying to keep my diet clean and maintain an exceptionally low body fat level is that my fridge is empty at the end of the day. Every day, I buy the food need for just one day of eating. I sacrifice both convenience and the money I could’ve saved if I bought groceries in bulk. But that’s a sacrifice that’s occasionally necessary for me to make. What's the point of this hack?
Because of how intense my training is and the fact that I spend almost the whole rest of my day working, I am sometimes tempted to “reward” myself by finishing a day with a meal that would be more than enough for three or four average-sized humans. But if, after my normal-sized dinner, I have no food left in my apartment, the chances of me going on a binge-eating rampage drop to almost zero. It’s simple: if you want to avoid doing something, make it more difficult and inconvenient to do. I know this tactic might sound extreme to most people. And it probably is. But it works. That is, it works most of the time.
Imagine this scenario. I’ve eaten well. My stomach is full. I am not hungry. It’s time to start winding down and getting ready for bed. But I want to eat something more. I don’t need it. I just want that cheap dopamine hit from eating some junk food. Luckily, there is no more food at my place. If I wanted to eat something, I would have to get dressed, go downstairs, walk 5 minutes to the store, buy the food, and get back. All of this at a time of night when I should already be getting ready for bed. Way too inconvenient. And that’s why my "hack" works most of the time. But not tonight. I get dressed and go out to buy food, even though I’m not hungry. I get back home and binge eat when I should already be going to bed. And yes, of course I feel miserable after it.
I would be lying if I said that this happens to me often. But it happened more than once. Way more than once. Hopefully you can draw from this that I am not some type of consistency and discipline machine that has been programmed to never fail. But let’s get back to our main point.
Do you see the connection between these two stories? Let me help you out.
Both my client and I had all the information, all the support, and all the hacks and tricks. But there was no execution. (In my case, "execution" would be not to overeat.)
It was impossible to make it even easier and more convenient for my client to get that daily win and create momentum in his training habit. The only other thing that could’ve been done was to physically force him to do a set of push-ups. I’ve used the most drastic hack I knew to prevent myself from binge eating. The only other thing that could’ve been done was to tie me to my bed so that I couldn’t go out to buy food. I think we can all agree that would’ve been a failure in both his and my case.
What am I trying to say? Even if everything is set up for you to perform a desirable behavior, it is still up to you to do it. You can still make a decision not to do it, no matter how easy and convenient it has been made for you. Even if everything was set up for you to avoid an undesirable behavior, it is still up to you not to do it. You can still make a decision to do something you know you shouldn’t do, no matter how many hacks you have used to make it inconvenient.
Depending on how you look at it, you are the first or the last link in the process of making any kind of positive change in your life. Either way, you are the most important link. There can be no change without your decision and your action.
What is that one thing preventing you from moving forward in life? It's the lack of self-accountability. It's not admitting that it is up to you and you alone.
If you "have information but lack execution," if you "know what to do but can’t get yourself to do it," there is nothing that I, or anyone else in the world, can do to help you.
It’s time to look in the mirror.
How to get yourself to do something? By doing it.
How to get yourself not to do something? By not doing it.
Sure, you will fail along the way. You will have good and bad days. We all do. But to wait for some magical solution that will make it easier for you to use the information you already have and do what you already know needs to be done – that's the real failure.
Thank you for reading.
If you get value from my work and you are interested in becoming more consistent, consider checking out my new book “The Art of Showing Up: A Clear and Practical Method for Mastering Consistency,” by clicking here.
Since I was writing this book in public, if you haven’t already you can read the free parts by clicking here.
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