Go Hard or Go Home!

It’s All or Nothing!

No Pain, No Gain!

I’m not sure when I first heard these phrases, but I somehow never thought to question them. Not only that, but I unconsciously (or maybe even consciously) subscribed to these trains of thought. I’ve often said, that I only do all or nothing; I don’t do moderation well (a sentiment others would agree describes me).

I do a run/walk challenge each year, and for a long time, I believed that if I couldn’t do 3-5 miles, then there wasn’t really a point in going for a run. I felt I needed the bigger distances to hit my 500 mile contribution for our team (although I didn’t love going that long).

Then I started hearing about consistency over intensity in various podcasts and I spent time reflecting. Could I flip my thinking and instead aim for a little bit more often? That would be a big mindset shift.

Around this time (a few months into the pandemic, as the weather grew nicer), my husband and I started walking around our neighbourhood at lunch. The route gave me 1.5 miles towards my challenge (which doesn’t seem like much when you are gunning for 500), but the point wasn’t getting the miles in, but rather, enjoying time, chatting and going for a walk. But I recorded the walks and watched the miles add up.

Last year, I added in walks in the morning a few times a week and I finished my portion of the challenge earlier than I ever had before. I started to see how this idea of a little bit more often might actually work.

As I wrote about in my Red Cars post, once I paid attention, I started receiving this message in multiple places. I just finished James Clear’s Atomic Habits where he wrote at length about Consistency over Intensity. OK, now I’m really paying attention.

He tweeted:

It took me awhile to be convinced, but I’m starting to believe him. In January, I aimed to workout every day. Old me would have said, it needs to be at least half an hour or it wasn’t worth it. New me said, it just has to be 1 mile (which takes me about 10-12 minutes on the elliptical). (I don’t love my elliptical, but I live in Alberta and winter can be cold or treacherous to walk or run outside, so I choose my poison.) I sat down and really thought about what is the minimum I can commit to on a daily basis. 10-12 minutes seemed reasonable. So even on the days I thought, I really don’t feel like doing this, I got on and promised myself I could quit after 1 mile. I also told myself, it was OK to go slow; it didn’t have to be huge incline or intensity. Most days, that initial 2-3 minutes was the worst, and then I got into a groove and went for 2 miles. A few days, I stopped after 1 and a couple I went for 3. In the end, however, I did at least a mile every day and finished the month with 65 miles which is more than I normally get, and it didn’t feel nearly as stressful or overwhelming (and dare I say, there were some days when I enjoyed it?)

He hit this message again in his interviews on Brene Brown’s Dare to Lead Podcast (check out Part 1 and Part 2 ).

As I see the impact of consistency, I’m left to wonder where else I can apply this practice and I came up with a list:

• Reading for 10 minutes each morning can mean 1-2 books read per month.

• Answering a few emails at a time means my inbox isn’t overflowing (and overwhelming)

• Tidying the kitchen for a few minutes while I heat up my lunch helps mitigate a disaster state

We often think we need huge goals, or giant gestures, but that isn’t in fact the case. Clear writes:

So, I am challenging myself to identify the areas I want to improve, or to unearth challenges themselves, and reflecting on how I can improve just 1 percent each day. What is one small step I can take today, that’s just a tiny bit more than yesterday to improve. And I’m examining my fascination with intensity and trying to consciously choose consistency instead. It’s a journey for me, but it excites me.

What can you do today that is just a little bit better than yesterday? How can you prioritize consistency over intensity? Let me know; I’d love to hear about it.