Why It Matters: Learn how to stop sabotaging yourself
I went mountain biking with my lovely wife just last week. It’s something I do fairly often on my own but we’ve never done it together.
My wife was a super trooper. I’m proud of her as mountain biking is not easy. I took her on my favourite trail in Bragg Creek called Merlin View and she did the whole thing, she didn’t even crash once.
There was one particular experience on the trail that gave me yet another analogy I thought I would share with you.
When we first started a certain climb she was right behind me. She told me to go faster as I was going too slow for her. I did pick it up a bit, but then when I looked back twenty seconds later to check on her she was nowhere to be found.
She later told me that her mindset was to get the climbs over with as fast as she could (I can’t say I blame her as they can feel pretty terrible with the legs and lungs burning to the extreme) but by going faster at the start she wasn’t able to have the gusto to actually complete the climb so would have to get off and walk.
My experience in mountain biking has taught me that it’s best to pace yourself. Give 80% the whole way consistently, embrace the pain, and complete the climb slow and steady.
Going all out and giving 100% right from the get go is not sustainable. It leads to not being able to complete the climb in front of you.
I share this with you not to bash my wife or say how inferior she was to me (I repeat, she rocked it) but rather to show how people sabotage themselves on their own climbs in life. Climbs are the challenges you have to face on the way to your goals. I love the John Maxwell quotes:
“Most people have uphill dreams but downhill habits.”
and
“Everything worthwhile is uphill.”
In other words, everything you want to achieve in life is going to be uphill. You’re not going to be able to coast to get there. Accepting this is a start, but how you face that climb is an even bigger determining factor.
Looking to get the climb over with as quickly as possible so you can enjoy the result generally leads to failure and discouragement.
Those who accomplish what they set out to generally find a way to fall in love with the climb. To enjoy it. To not want to just “get it over with”.
The person who goes on some harsh, restrictive eating disorder (oh sorry, I meant to say “diet”) to lose some quick pounds only to gain back everything they lost (plus some) in a short time.
The person who is going to “get in shape” so they commit to running every day or doing some 75 days of insanity. Only to get injured or quit within the first week and feel even more discouraged now that they “failed”.
It’s not the person. It’s the approach. It’s their view of the climb so to speak.
They sabotage themselves by thinking the result they want to achieve can be done easily or quickly so they can then enjoy the view from the top and then not have to work so hard.
They want to give 100% for a short time so then they can settle back and give 20% once their hill has been climbed.
It doesn’t work that way.
This thinking is pure sabotage.
The climbs of life never stop.
Trying to coast in regards to your fitness & health means you no longer get to be fit & healthy. Coasting inevitably makes you soft and weak, even if you were once fit. You never get to keep the results you stop working for.
So here’s what I suggest:
1) You need to pick the right mountains and trails in life, nothing is more discouraging than climbing a trail you don’t even want to be on in the first place.
2) When you’re on the trail, you need to fall in love with the climb itself, not the eventual view that will come from it.
I get excited about the fact that my fitness climb will never end. It is ongoing. Only I can walk the path. No one can do it for me. I continue the climb and remain fit, strong, & healthy because I give my 80% consistently, all year, rather than 100% for a few weeks of the year and 20% the rest of it.
Your 80% will take you further than you could have ever imagined. Your 100% will be to your detriment.
Disclaimer:
Many people think they’re giving 80% when they’re really giving 20%.
Giving 80% doesn’t mean easy. It still means you’re pushing yourself and being challenged, operating at the edge of your current abilities where it’s still just doable enough that you can maintain it and be consistent.
So while everybody’s current ability and situation is different here’s a few thoughts on how you can determine whether you’re truly giving 80% or 20:
- If you’re not strength training 3x/week consistently you’re not giving your fitness 80%
- If you have no idea how many calories or grams of protein you put in the hole under your nose every day you’re not giving your nutrition 80%
- If you consume alcohol/fast food/sugary crap multiple times/week you’re not giving your 80%
- If you sit all day and never go for a walk you’re not giving your 80%
- If you stay up late and never get 8 hours of sleep you’re not giving your 80%
- If you continue to tolerate people who are negative/pessimistic and bring you down you are not giving your 80%
So while 100% won’t take you up the trail, neither will 20%. Find your 80% and give it every day with consistency and in a short time you’ll be able to look back and marvel over just how far you’ve come.
Consistency beats intensity.
