It’s not what you think.
It’s the opposite of what everyone else does.
The Path to Failure
Lets say your New Years Resolution this year is to lose 10 pounds.
What most people would do would be to make a drastic change to their diet AND a new super-intense, super often workout program.
Decades of trying this should tell you that it’s doomed to fail.
And people start to think that losing that last 10 pounds is impossible, or maybe they’re too old, or maybe it takes some even bigger, more drastic, more herculean effort than they are able to put in.
And they’d be dead wrong.
What Actually Works
First, break it down into elements you probably need to change in the long run:
1.) More effective (not more intense or more often) workout program
2.) More effective food program
So ok, we can see right here that we have two different battles we’re fighting. And we know that if we fight two battles, our chances of success drop dramatically. Just by fighting two battles at once, we set ourselves up to fail. Don’t do that.
So we cut it down to one: More effective food program.
Ok, lets break that down into skills we need to work on:
1.) Planning
2.) Logging
3.) Shopping
4.) Cooking
Wow, so that’s four different things we need to work on, inside of food! We know that if we take on 2, 3, or 4 things at a time, we’re gauranteeing failure.
So lets not set ourselves up to fail. Again.
Lets set ourselves up to WIN!
And the way we set ourselves up to win is by doing ONE THING ONLY. And winning at that one thing.
So pick one of those. And do that. Only.
After you win at that, you can pick another one.
Habits Not Diets
You’ll noticed the one thing I didn’t say is to find a magical diet.
I didn’t tell you to eliminate bad nutrients. Or do a crazy cleanse. Or jump on the latest diet trend. It isn’t about finding a better diet.
Look, almost all of them work.
But people don’t go to work on what matters — the skills that make them work, like cooking. And adding in cooking in a small, implementable way.
Look at skills like planning, logging, and shopping the same way you would look at learning a skill like kettlebell snatches or a turkish get-up. It’s something that needs to be learned and refined over time.
Failure vs. Success Redux
Failure = Trying to change lots of things at once
Success = Trying to change one thing at a time.
It’s that simple.
Most people fail at New Years Resolutions because they set themselves up to fail. They literally never had a chance to win, and no amount of will or discipline or motivation could have saved them.
Set yourself up to win this year, and get everything you want!!!
by Josh Hillis
author of Fat Loss Happens on Monday
Fat loss doesn’t have to be as hard as the horrible plans the media has told you. You just need a smarter plan that sets you up to win.
Leave a Reply