On May 1st 2022, I began a journey to change something at the heart of most of my problems.
My Health.
I needed to regain the enthusiasm to train.
I needed the confidence good shape brings.
90 days later, I was halfway through to where I wanted to be.
I had successfully completed the 1st phase of the journey.
This is not a one-shot-success story though.
I have tried and failed several times over the years.
I would have been a millionaire had I placed a bet against my chances of success.
Not because I didn’t know what I was doing.
I knew it.
I had, however, developed a misplaced sense of priority.
I wanted to look leaner.
I wanted to be bigger.
I wanted to be stronger.
I wanted to have crazy stamina.
I wanted to have mind-blowing flexibility.
Etc.
‘You cannot have priorities. If you do, you don’t have one.’
It took me 32 years to fully absorb it.
You can only have a priority, not many.
Once you figure out what is the priority, then the rest are not.
You cannot chase two rabbits.
And this is our #1 problem.
You do a bit of research on a subject.
You read about various successful personalities in that field.
Each with a seemingly different approach.
You deconstruct their approach, extract the best parts, and try to find a perfect combination of those.
Why?
You want guaranteed success, and probably an ‘exceptional’ one.
You are so attached to this idea of an ‘ingenious’ approach, you shun the idea of keeping it ‘simple to start’.
But a day will come when you will look back.
You would wish you had cared less about the best strategy.
That you had ‘just begun’.
I have been through this, but I wish you don’t.
There are two things you need to succeed.
- Consistency
- Strategy
The first one you don’t consider.
The second doesn’t matter.
“Amateurs talk tactics. Professionals study logistics.”
- General Omar Bradley
Tactics refer to troop movements and deployment schemes in the war field.
Logistics is all about making sure the troops are where they are meant to be, with the necessary support and supplies.
That they last long enough to achieve the objectives.
While this quote comes from the context of war, it has relevance to our daily lives too.
To succeed you do not need the best strategy, you need a system that guarantees longevity.
This longevity comes from ensuring consistency.
If you study the successful figures in any field, you would learn a ‘slightly’ different approach from each one of them.
Yet, they all managed to succeed.
In which case, the strategy was the un-common element.
What was common?
Consistency.
They were consistent with what they are experts at.
Their strategies today are different from what they used yesterday.
Strategy evolves over time to adapt to the changing context.
Yet, what remains constant is the need to keep pushing through, to keep following through on what you started, to show up every day.
When you start working towards something, you enter a phase where you have to Change the Inertia.
The inertia of Inaction into the Inertia of Action.
This is Phase 1.
You need some momentum to change that.
That is your priority.
Nothing else matters.
But this is hard.
While you need to make a dash on the runway, the friction stops you soon enough.
Because you don’t have sufficient momentum.
You might begin questioning your strategy, but it is all about pushing through and not-stopping.
You would argue, that strategy matters in phase 2.
Yes and no.
You definitely need strategies to counter obstacles and keep the momentum.
You need strategies (s), not the ‘best strategy.
You devise a strategy and let it evolve over time.
There is no single strategy for all scenarios.
On a broad level, the strategy doesn’t matter.
As the scenario changes, so does the strategy.
You need to continuously adapt.
But the need for consistency never goes away.
And if you don’t manage to build it in phase 1, the story won’t be any different in phase 2.
If you try to put phase 2 before phase 1, you can forget your goals.
What you need is consistency, not a strategy.
I did exactly that.
For the first phase of my journey, I had earmarked 90 days as the target to stay consistent.
Why 90 days?
No reason.
Had I needed more, I would have extended it.
I did not have a training program.
I just showed up every day.
I began with 10-minute training sessions.
Easy enough to stay consistent.
Soon enough, I started loving it and began craving challenges.
That’s when I knew I had crossed Phase 1.
I had been consistent long enough that I did not need to motivate myself every day.
Now that I am in phase 2, I am going to devise a simple strategy.
Only to be ‘structured’ with my consistent efforts.
The priority, however, stays the same.
To stay consistent regardless of the phase.
So should you.
Don’t jump the steps.
If you put phase 2 before phase 1, you can forget your goals.