Your way of thinking reminds me a lot about what one of the most accomplished and knowledgeable men in the fitness industry - Layne Norton says about building muscle. He says that there is a hierarchy of importance regarding training:
1. Adherence
2. Volume
3. Technique
4. Periodization
5. Failure, muscle damage, metabolic stress, time under tension...
6. Hormonal responses
He says that many beginners get so obsessed about the fine details of training that they forget the fundamentals - " I'm not saying that things at the bottom of the hierarchy are not important, they are important but train hard for ten years and you will be 90% percent where you would have been if you had optimized everything perfectly. Adherence alone - just taking action day in and day out, for 10 years, going harder than last time, will bring you 90% there. "
I feel like you are saying the same thing - " I am not saying Sikorsky that having this structure isn't important, but don't forget that if you take care of the fundamentals, adhere perfectly to taking actions day in and day out, incorporate all this substances and practices rationally, without obsessing about the finest details possible, you will still get 97% of cognitive output that you would get if you had done everything perfectly. Do not forget the fundamentals, I know that you have heard a 1000 times already about the importance of optimizing sleep, exercise... but there is a tendency of people to forget the hierarchy of importance in the pursuit of a shiny new "magic bullet" and forget that at the end of the day consistency in taking actions and taking care of the fundamentals is far more important than something lower at the hierarchy - it will bring you 90% there. Consistency is far more important than perfection. "
Umm...Sikorsky...you just nailed the f*ck out that answer.
Beautifully said and EXACTLY right.
God himself (Morgan Freeman) and I applaud you.
I would also add that beginners often get obsessed with more 'knowledge'...what they should be obsessed with is more 'action'.
Forget about Lostfalco for a second...if I didn't exist at all, what is the simplest, smallest, most fundamental thing you already KNOW you should be DOING to get the life you desire most?
Do that thing now. (Make sure it's REALLY small)
Now, once you've done it once decide a time every day that you are going to do it and do that for every single day for the rest of your life.
This is how ALL growth begins...TINY movements.
Many people use knowledge and learning as a shield to prevent them from having to take action.
Start with action. Daily action.
Once you are moving it is really easy to adjust and optimize using more KNOWLEDGE but just as you said when quoting Layne Norton...adherence is FIRST. Action is first.
Adherence means acting...and acting CONSISTENTLY.
Don't do too much at once. Intentionally do one tiny action...and ONLY ONE tiny action...THEN stop.
For example, if you know you need to exercise, the first step might be putting on your running shoes.
Therefore, right now, put on your running shoes. Then, take them off immediately.
Next, decide what time every single day you want to exercise...let's say it's 5:30am like me.
So, tomorrow you have one and ONLY one goal...put on your running shoes at 5:30am and take them off immediately.
DO NOT go running or walking or jogging.
Instead, do this routine for three days. (You MUST build a routine...you must build a SYSTEM...you must build HABITS)
If you maintain it for three days, then up your game...put your running shoes on at 5:30am, do 3 jumping jacks, and then immediately take your shoes off again and go start your day without doing anymore exercise.
Do this for three days straight or keep trying until you get this done consistently for 3 days straight.
After a week or a few weeks of this you will be so desperate to exercise at that time that you will almost have no ability to resist going for a walk. lol
Again, keep it simple.
This is the type of thing you want to do in hundreds of areas of your life to get the life you want.
I adapted this from James Clear's Atomic Habits which is a FANTASTIC book...one of the greatest self-help books ever written. Hands down.
However, don't go out and read it right away. Instead think of the actions you already believe in and start doing those.
Clear's book will be much more valuable for you when you are already in motion based on what YOU already KNOW.
As an older man about to turn 45 at the end of this month, I can tell you that I have immeasurably transformed myself in every area of my life over the past 30 years using these ideas.
I haven't told you guys about the THOUSANDS of other experiments I've done... the innumerable ways I've changed my social life, my beliefs, my desires, my looks, my voice, my finances, my relationships, my humor, my reasoning, my creativity, etc.
My life has been one experiment after another (I was a strange 15 year old. lol) and tiny increment after tiny increment I've found hundreds and hundreds of things in every area of life that have benefitted me.
I've also found 'a thousand ways NOT to create a light bulb' as Edison was reported to have said. ha
Every single time, I've found that it's not ONE big thing...it's a thousand tiny things that make a life exceptional. (This is what I call the 'Plus-One Threshold' as those of you who have been reading my posts will remember)
You may have heard me say before that I don't believe in 'million dollar ideas'...I believe in a million 'one dollar ideas'.
Be VERY average at a million things EVERY single day and you will be absolutely extraordinary given enough time.
This is one of the major findings of cognitive behavioral therapy.
Let go of stifling perfectionism and 'dare to be average'.
One of the other greatest self-help books in history is Burns' 'Feeling Good'.
He nails this idea and I believe it is ESPECIALLY important now days when every kid is brainwashed by Marvel into thinking that they have to be an EXCEPTIONAL superhero. Bullshit.
Dare be average and Dare to Love Life on YOUR f*cking terms.
After all, no one's true goal is to be exceptional..it's to feel amazing.
Just ask EVERY 'exceptional' actor, or athlete, or genius, or billionaire, or rockstar, or CEO...who HATE their lives.
They would trade all that in one second if it meant they could FEEL comfort, rest, peace, fun, happiness, laughter, love, connection, insight, surprise, joy, etc.
There are things we desire 'for their own sake', and things we desire for 'the sake of something else'. (Aristotle taught me that)
Find those things you 'directly desire' and it becomes VERY easy to persistently seek them every day.
Start small. Start now. Take action. Build a system. Keep taking actions.
After enough time has passed, step back, look at your life, and you be in awe at who you are and what you've become.
I hope that helps!
LF Out (for today)
I've linked the aforementioned books here if anyone wants to check them out. https://www.lostfalco.com/books/
Check out my post here for some simple actions to start changing your life. It's a rough draft post in progress and I'll polish it and fill it out in the coming days and weeks. https://www.lostfalc...y-want-in-life/
Check out my Day Frame here for timing rules on all of these things...since time is THE most important aspect by far. https://www.lostfalc...lcos-day-frame/
This post got kind of long so I think that should cover us for Abstract Wednesday. lol
I'll talk to you guys this weekend!
Edited by lostfalco, 03 January 2023 - 08:41 PM.