I remember racing up the escalator at Macy’s in the Cape Cod Mall.
My mother, who rode up the escalator calmly like a normal person, always said I was going to hurt myself (possible) or I was going to make a scene (true) or interrupt the people who were trying to go down the escalator (also true).
Sometimes I managed to reach the summit exhausted and out of breath while my mother arrived at the same time and laughed at how hard I had to work.
Spend enough time in an airport (or traveling with small children) and within minutes you’ll see kids trying to run on a people mover that’s moving the other way. Exhaustion for them, entertainment for us.
Do you see where I’m going with this?
My friend Mark Manson typed the following his newsletter this week:
“All the courage, persistence and motivation in the world will do you no good if you are working on the wrong thing. In fact, it will do the opposite.”
That brings me to today’s question…
Where are you taking the escalator up?
I remember talking to Coach Matt from Team NF about this earlier this year Coaching of clients those who are successful and those who struggle.
- Those who succeed: You identify the escalator that is moving in the right direction and work hard to get there. Each step actually increases their efforts.
- Those who fight: They continue to invest their energy, willpower, and effort into changes that make no difference.
I bet you’ve had moments where you’ve wondered if all the effort was REALLY worth it or why progress seemed harder than normal.
Here are some examples of trying to walk up the escalator:
- Spending a lot of money on expensive nutritional supplements (not prescribed by a doctor).
- Switch to organic, gluten-free, or low-carb keto snacks only on the latest trend.
- Try complicated diets that don’t do this Strictly speaking Reduce your food intake.
- Playing a sport you hate exclusively for weight loss reasons.
Running (and anything else that counts as cardio) is Great for heart and lung health. But running and cardio do far less effective for weight loss than we think (unless we ALSO adjust our nutritional strategy).
My guess is that you want to look more “muscular,” which means you don’t just want to “lose weight,” but rather you want to keep the muscle you have and lose the fat on top.
If these are our goals, then it is crucial that we focus on the right escalator.
Here are examples of walking up the escalator:
Show me someone who eats mostly protein, fruits, and vegetables and does 30 minutes of strength training (with progressive overload) several times a week, and I’ll show you someone going up the real escalator.
Here’s the thing: Humans are not wired to love sports. Nor are we designed to thrive in a world where high-calorie, nutrient-poor, delicious foods are always available.
That is, if we spend valuable brain power and energy on it something, We might as well choose the right things to trick ourselves into doing.
Yes, there is also a whole “life vs. behavior” change component (which I wrote about in a previous newsletter). Manageable vs. sensible). But the question “How quickly do I want to implement these meaningful steps” is a better question than “Why am I still not making progress?” work so hard?”
Get off the wrong escalator and get on the right one.
This effort could be put to good use!
-Steve
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