Category: Daily

Most of us naturally emphasise our daily mistakes and misfortunes while barely acknowledging our wins. Especially the small wins. And as we’re more likely to remember our mistakes and poorer choices, it can distort how we see ourselves.

We become less confident in our skills and abilities to achieve our goals.

But that stops now.

In a world obsessed with social media highlight reels of here’s-me-cuddling-a-panda-in-a-submarine, we often underestimate the power of small wins.

But small wins are like compound interest for your motivation. Each small win boosts your confidence, proving that you can do it. And that’s a kind of big deal.

You’re not just ticking a box every time you successfully complete a healthy behaviour, be it a quick workout, a healthy UberEats, or 60 seconds of mindfulness.

When you acknowledge and celebrate a small win, you reinforce the behaviour you want to become a habit. It’s introductory psychology: positive reinforcement. You’re more likely to repeat an action if you associate it with a positive outcome.

So, how do you make this actionable? Simple. Keep a pop-psychology-smelling ‘Wins Journal.’ I know, the overly upbeat name itself activates the gag reflex in me too. But…

By keeping a ‘Wins Journal,’ you’re not just tracking your actions but creating a tangible record of your capability. It serves as a frequent reminder of how far you’ve come and fuels you to go even further.

When you complete your chosen behaviour or anything worth feeling good about, jot it down. It doesn’t have to be elaborate. A single-line entry will do.

The key is consistency.

-J

Sarcopenia: ever heard of it? No, it’s not a new brand of gluten-free pasta or a remote Greek island. Unfortunately.

Sarcopenia is the age-related loss of muscle mass and function and has long been considered an inevitable part of aging. By age 50, we start to lose about 1-2% of our muscle mass annually, and the percentage increases as we hit our 60s and 70s.

If that were a retirement fund, we’d be burying gold in the backyard. And you can do that and then some with strength training.

Current resistance training research not only reports preserved muscle mass in older adults but also shows gains comparable to younger folks.

Muscle is metabolic currency. Strength training improves insulin sensitivity, bone density, cognitive function, and a hefty reduction in chronic inflammation.

The key to these upsides is to customise the training intensity, dial in the rest, and gradually challenge your limits to make sure you keep progressing.

As with a retirement fund, the earlier you start accumulating muscle into the fund, the better.

-J

Let me guess: you probably don’t need any more stress right now. Right. Neither do I.

A prolonged lack of focus leads to a pile of undone work and a mountain of stress. We can’t control everything, but we can do a lot to improve our focus and reduce a significant stress source in our lives: unfinished work.

Here’s my list for improving deep focus.

Gathered from smart folks who know humans and brains.

1. Delay caffeine 90-120 minutes in the morning to allow cortisol to lower naturally.

2. Exercise earlier or at lunchtime instead of after work.

3. 1-5 minute cold shower at an uncomfortable but manageable temperature. It’s optional, but I find it makes me more alert.

4. Set detailed, time-specific goals. A time-specific goal can be anywhere between 5-90 minutes. Create these goals before starting work, perhaps the night before or during a morning walk.

5. Our brains can handle two to three 90-minute deep focus spurts in a day. Plan accordingly.

6. Space deep focus spurts with non-focus demanding tasks (different to work-related tasks). Social media, YouTube and browsing the internet are not great options.

7. Before each break, write down a quick plan for when you return.

8. Include short activity breaks throughout the day. Even a few minutes counts.

9. Kill all the notifications on your phone and computer.

10. Park the unrelated tasks that come to mind during the deep focus on a piece of paper. You can return to them later.

11. Motor control stuff helps focus: drawing, stress ball, crawling…

12. A lighter lunch might help afternoon focus.

13. Meditate to teach your mind how to wander and how to bring it back.

14. Learn to tolerate boredom. Sit with it.

15. Sleep. A lot.

-J

The goal of the workout is not to get you exhausted and sore.

The goal is to get you closer to where you want to go.

Sometimes, that involves exhaustion, even soreness as a by-product.

But 99.9% of the time, it doesn’t. Especially when you’re training for your health and fitness, not for a competition.

If you’re constantly chasing exhaustion in your workouts, you might use the gruelling workouts to manage other, more psychological needs.

-J

It can be tough to stick with your workouts when the only motivation is the health benefits.

Look at the non-physical activities that surround the things you do with impeccable consistency. Whether that’s writing, reading, theatre practice or Saturday arvo get-together with your friends.

What are the benefits you get out of these activities? Why do you keep going back? Is it the social benefits, the personal rewards, the challenge, the battle with yourself, the joy, etc?

Find ways to bring some of those benefits to your physical activities.

-J

When a workout, a run or a dinner with three vegetables seems about as manageable as attempting a nuclear fusion in your bathtub, it’s easy to feel disheartened and frustrated.

During those daily struggles, most of us wish things would be easier and effortless.

But when was the last time you did something easy and felt an immense reward for it?

Every meaningful reward requires us to work through frustration and struggle. It’s the difficulty in the process that makes us appreciate the reward.

And the commitment to the process is the only way to work through those difficulties.

-J

Just today, I had two conversations with people who put their back pain down to age. One was in the mid-60s, and the other in the early 40s.

It’s easy to think of our bodies as machines that wear down over time. And if there’s one thing we humans love doing, it’s to latch on to simple explanations to bring us a sense of stability and comfort in an unpredictable world.

But the human body is an annoyingly complicated living thing. Unlike a rusting, offensively orange Citroën CX, our cells continuously renew, and the body has an incredible ability to adapt and regenerate.

Yes, age can play a part in back pain. But for every MRI finding of “wear and tear” as a cause for pain, there are just as many, if not more, people who are entirely pain-free despite identical findings.

Besides, as we journey through the dumpster fire of life, we build resilience—emotionally and physically. And the pain threshold actually tends to increase with age. I know, right?

As I’ve written before, pain is a complex puzzle. And our beliefs about our body’s resiliency are critical to that pain puzzle.

Let’s crush the easy narrative that back pain is an unavoidable part of aging. And instead, put more effort into understanding our pain.

-J

The fitness industry (and the society) treats the pre-pregnancy body as the right body.

But pregnancy is almost as significant a transformation for a woman’s body as puberty or menopause.

So isn’t it strange to think it shouldn’t change one’s physique?

-J

ps. This excellent insight is ripped off from Helsingin Sanomat, a Finnish newspaper (that’s still a thing, right?).

I had this conversation with an online client last week. She’s reached the fitness goals she set when we first started. So naturally, the “What’s the next goal?” came up.

And her response was so insightful that I wanted to share it with you.

Here’s what she had to say:

“I do not (currently) have an endpoint goal, like a race or a hike or a skill or ability. And I don’t want to make one up. My goal is to be consistent with my workouts. That’s my challenge; being consistent and taking action even when the feeling isn’t there. Remembering that the action creates the feeling.

The edge for me might be that little bit of swagger, that little bit of bad ass proud I feel when I’m really locked in, but overall it’s simply to keep showing up.

My Why is clear. I feel my best when I do it, and I rarely feel good when I don’t do it. Obviously I much prefer to feel good. I’m sure the reasons for staying are numerous and nuanced, but include enjoyment of the process (vs achievement of the outcome), value of the relationship, and recognition that even something with proven value (the workouts themselves) can get lost in the messiness of life. Hence the beacon.

My goal is not an outcome but a process. In addition to the workouts I’m looking for coaching, collaboration, and a firm push when needed… I’m not abdicating my responsibility or making you the reason that I do it [the workouts] (only sometimes 😉), but rather recognizing that it’s better with a partner.”

-J

Ever find yourself scarfing down a pack of Oreos simply because it was within arm’s reach? Skipping a workout because your gym clothes were buried under a mountain of laundry?

Who hasn’t, right? We’re creatures of habit, and our environment dictates our habits more than we feel comfortable admitting. The upside is that we can use that insight to make healthier choices easier.

Make healthy things easier and unhealthy things harder.

“Nudge” yourself towards better choices by reorganizing your environment. Stock the fridge with vegetables, keep your runners by the door, automate that monthly contribution to your savings account, and only buy expensive, top-shelf wine.

At the same time, add complexity to the choices that move you away from your goals. Limit the number of treats in the house and keep them out of sight, disable one-click purchasing for online shopping, keep the laundry bucket in the garage so you’re less likely to do washing and eventually someone else gets sick of the pile and does it and that makes you really happy because you can go for a run with Sarah instead.

You’re more likely to stick to a regimen when you’re not constantly fighting your environment.

-J