This is the #1 Thing Getting in the Way of Your Success

When I decided to get my personal training certification, I thought I knew a lot about exercise.

At that point, I had been working out regularly for 26 years, had a six pack for most of my life, and had access to some really high level coaches and trainers while playing division 1 baseball.

Little did I know that I still had a LOT to learn.

Up until this time, I had participated in action sports at a high level for over a decade and had gotten an injury here and there (expected for my level of participation). However, I started getting injured regularly, almost monthly, with everything from little nagging strains to full tears that needed surgery. Over the next three years, I would battle constant injury and watch my mental and emotional health suffer because of it.

As someone who had been constantly active for decades, I couldn’t understand why I suddenly couldn’t avoid injury. Figuring out what I was doing wrong has helped me serve my clients at a higher level for over twenty years.

What was the number one thing I learned from all those years of trial and error?

That it’s all about CONSISTENCY over INTENSITY.

When most people get started with a new training program, their sign of commitment is the level of INTENSITY they bring to that first workout or two. However, this intense energy usually fizzles out by day three or four as the novelty of working out wears off.

The problem is that intensity isn’t what we need, it’s consistency that counts everywhere in our lives.

Robin Sharma, NY Times best selling author of “The Leader Who Had No Title and The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari” tells us that greatness is all about consistency on the fundamentals.

Of course, a world-class artist will have different fundamentals than an athlete or an entrepreneur or a parent, but the same rule applies in each case: mastery of the mundane.

Which, of course, begs the question: What ARE our fundamentals?

I like to think of our fundamentals on two different levels: the universal and the specific.

We ALL share the need for mastery around the basics: Eat. Move. Sleep. Breathe. Focus. If we don’t have those universal fundamentals dialed in, there’s simply no way we’ll have a shot at our highest potential.

Then, we have our specific fundamentals. The things that are unique to each of us and our particular crafts. For example, as a teacher and lover of wisdom, I need to commit to deep work blocks packed with thinking, writing, and reading.

So, this time, think: what are YOUR specific fundamentals? These are personal, of course, so there’s no wrong answers!

These fundamentals help to guide us, but they’re not fundamentals if we don’t actually stand by them. That’s why we need consistency.

Rather than starting out looking tough and then tip-toeing out the backdoor when it gets difficult to maintain motivation, we want to start knowing that it will get difficult and then focus on CONSISTENCY rather than intensity.

This also reflects a well-known idea: the power of 1%. Do small steps every day towards where you want to be. I tried to take giant steps in my fitness journey by going super hard, but that ended up injuring me. Trust me, I know it can be frustrating to slow down if you’re a high performer. Instead of being frustrated, create small wins. You worked out for 45 minutes today! Maybe it wasn’t your best workout, but you showed up and you did it. Train your brain to get used to you working out, eating better, writing more, or just getting out of bed on time every day.

CONSISTENCY over INTENSITY.

It’s funny because in my workouts these days, even when I’m doing my high intensity interval training and moving closer to a max effort, I always have a voice in my head that says, “don’t be sore tomorrow.”

Repeat after me:

CONSISTENCY over INTENSITY.

CONSISTENCY over INTENSITY.

CONSISTENCY over INTENSITY.

Be sure to hit us up by email or on social media (@psyfinyc) if you have more questions or let us know in the comments if there’s anything Psychology-Fitness™ related that you’d like to learn more about!

Have an awesome day.