I remember racing the roller coaster at Macy’s in the Cape Cod Mall.
My mother, calmly climbing the elevator like a normal person, would say that I would hurt myself (probably) or make a scene (correct) or interrupt people trying to get off the elevator (also correct). .
Sometimes I would climb up, exhausted and out of breath, while my mother would come at the same time and laugh at my struggles.
Spend enough time at an airport (or traveling with small children), and within minutes you’ll see kids trying to run on People Movers going the other way. Boring for them, fun for us.
See where I’m going with this?
My friend Mark Manson put these in there ;his newspaper; this week:
“All the pain, persistence, and energy in the world won’t do you any good if you’re working on the wrong thing. In fact, it will do the opposite.”
Which brings me to today’s question…
Where do you run UP DOWN the escalator?
Earlier this year, I remember having a conversation with Coach Matt from Team NF about ;customer training; who is successful and who is struggling.
- Winners: they find the ride that goes right, and they work hard to get on that one. Each step actually enhances their efforts.
- Those who struggle: they keep spending their energy, energy, and effort on changes that don’t move the needle.
I’m sure you’ve had times when you’ve wondered if all the effort was worth it, or why progress was harder than usual.
Here are a few examples of climbing attempts:
- A lot of money is spent on expensive supplements (not written by a medical professional).
- Switch to an organic, gluten-free, or low-carb keto diet alone on a new style.
- Try eating complex foods that don’t actually reduce the amount of food you eat.
- Doing an exercise you hate ad hoc for weight loss purposes.
Running (and anything else considered cardio) is great for heart and lung health. But running is cardio ;far less effective for weight loss; more than we think (unless we adjust our food strategy too).
I’m guessing you want to look more “toned,” which means you don’t just want to “lose weight,” but instead keep the muscle you have and lose the fat on top of it.
If these are our goals, then keeping our focus on the right escalator is key.
Here are some examples of climbing stairs:
Show me someone who eats mostly protein, fruits and vegetables, and trains hard (with no excess) for 30 minutes at least once a week, and I’ll show you someone who moves UP right escalator.
Here’s the thing: ;people are not wired to want to exercise;. Also, we are not designed to thrive in a world where high-calorie, nutrient-poor food is available all the time.
Which means if we’re going to spend a significant amount of brain power and energy on doing something, we too can choose the right things to trick ourselves into doing.
Yes, there’s a whole “life vs morality” aspect to this too (which I covered in a previous post about it. ;Executive vs Logical;). But deciding “how quickly do I want to implement these meaningful steps” is a better question than “Why am I not making progress yet. work so hard?”
Get off the right escalator, and go right up.
This effort can also be put to good use!
-Steve
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