By: Coach Joseph Dappen
Setting new personal records, seeing progress, winning the prize. It feels good. We want it, we chase it, and grasp for it. It’s easy to look around and wonder what secret the few who seem to always excel have. How are they constantly seeing progress? Why do they have steady growth no matter what? What’s the secret?
Well I’m here to tell you the secret to getting PRs. It never fails, never falters. You can count on it every single time.
Boring little habits.
Not what you were expecting when you clicked on this blogpost? Guess who coined this term? Ray Allen, 2 time NBA championship winner. A man who excels at his sport, who knows what it’s like to achieve and succeed and doing this is his greatest piece of advice:
Create and consistently maintain the boring little habits that will add up to great things.
As I look at the successful people around me, I see their lives filled with “boring little habits” That doesn’t mean their lives are not exciting, it just means they are hard working, faithful men and women that day after day put their nose to the grind and get things done. Look at someone that has accomplished a lot and it appears they “have arrived” in their success journey. It would be easy to think they had something big and extraordinary that got them to the place they are at but in reality it’s been a compilation of tiny, boring, baby steps faithfully executed with consistent perseverance that has brought them to to where they are.
How does this translate to you and I who are far from NBA champions? What about our goals?
Well, it comes down to taking a look at daily choices. What do I choose to put my mind, time, and effort to every day – every hour? Am I consistently making the tiny choices that will get me closer and closer to my goals? It probably won’t look fancy or glamorous. We see the fame and moments of recognition and glory that famous athletes have, and we forget the years of daily sacrifice, consistent habits, and perseverance that brought them to that moment.
We accomplish what we desire by step-by-step actions.
How does this translate into health and fitness? How does this unlock the secret of getting PRs?
1. Dispel With The Lottery Mindset Don’t be someone that jumps from extreme to extreme. Stop thinking that four week challenges or 30 day diet plans will make you a fit, healthy individual. Stop rolling the dice and waiting for everything to fall just right for you to hit it big.
No one becomes strong, thin, fit, healthy, or successful in a poof of a moment.
Being healthy is finding a balanced lifestyle that is sustainable yet provides progress. Extreme dieting or working out till your body falls apart is probably not going to be sustainable. After a while you will most likely be burned out, hurt your body and mind, and find yourself in a worse place then when you set off on your campaign to make something happen.
As a coach, I often see people get fired up to master a movement or hit a number on their lifts. It’s easy to think that if all the cards fall into place and if you try really hard for a week or two, you’ll achieve it all. You’re probably headed for disappointment. In reality, those boring old daily habits will get you where you want to go. The accessory work that isn’t glamourous. The non-sexy movements that get you stronger. The tedious technique work. Trust the process, work hard and be consistent.
2. Life Is Not A Drive-Thru We as a society want everything in such a hurry. Immediately, fast, quick… now!! Next day shipping, fast-food, high-speed internet. I wanted it yesterday. We live in a fast food era and we have incorporated that mindset into our every day lives. I want results now and I want them fast. We want instant gratification with no price paid.
Where’s the enjoyment in the journey? We will not ultimately get what we want or desire if we take the fast track. And most likely once you achieve your “goal” you’ll realize it’s not all that it was chalked up to be and you’ve missed out because you didn’t enjoy the journey.
3. Be Like A Tree Trees speak to me in a big way. I love the analogy they are for life. A tree takes many, many years to mature/grow to become a powerful, strong tree. Growth comes through a slow day-by-day by day process. It is fun to enjoy the shade, beauty and majesty of a large tree, but if you could see everything that that tree went through to get there you would be in awe. All it did was take one day at a time for weeks, months, years, and decades.
Let your fitness be a lifetime goal. We are about being healthy, strong individuals. Enjoy every moment along the way, don’t hold your breath until you get “there”. If you don’t, you will burn out and look for something else, forgetting that the whole reason for working out, eating well and making good choices was not to arrive but to enjoy the journey of a lifetime.
4. Think About The Big Picture The majority of us want to feel good and obviously we all want to look good. How about beyond us, beyond our own lives and goals? What about our children and their children? Our choices and decisions we make every day will have an impact on them good or bad.
Life is not about PR’s (personal records) in the gym, though I don’t discount them. They are fun and exciting but it’s about the journey.
Making a choice to eat healthy consistently, choosing to trust the process, giving 100% on the workout of the day, giving it your all but letting it be what it is.
Be faithful with what you’re given. Be it at work, kids, spouse, food and your body, are you faithful? It may not look fancy or glamorous, but I guarantee over time you will see the results and they will be lasting. You’ll affect the generation after you because you have not traveled the road of highs and lows but have consistently progressed even and steady. It’s not going to be a walk in the park. Start with the foundation, making it solid, firm and straight so it will stand the test of time.
It’s okay to have goals but don’t get so focused on them that you stop your everyday small lonely battles. Be consistent. If someone were to ask me what success looks like, I would tell them that it’s being consistent to be faithful where you are with what you’ve been given. No big gestures or changes, just baby steps in the right direction. The gradual incline to the top is better then the fast highs and crazy drops/crashes.
We can get hyped up trying to constantly make the big improvements or jumps, but it’s so much better to trust the process. Trust the coach and what he or she has in the workout today. Tackle everything that is thrown your way with your whole heart. You do that consistently and you’ll look back in several months or years and see the beautiful journey you’ve come on and where it has gotten you.
That’s how you will earn your big moment, your PR, your success.
Every time. Guaranteed.