It’s been one of those weeks so here’s a lightly revised past post I’m transferring here to Substack detailing a simple mindset shift that an online client reported this week, has made ALL the difference.
Her past month of training and some associated dietary tasks all ticked off with nary a whisper from a typically extremely unwilling psyche.
Somebody who, by her own admission, understands the importance of exercise but over 20 years of on and off has never been successful at making it stick for even ‘a couple of weeks’ and who now ‘can’t even imagine that happening again’.
All, and only, because of this simple switch.
Results may vary.
[NOTE: This was originally— and still is—‘required reading’ included towards the end of a specific Leftfield program and, as such, it makes reference to elements of that program. However, I often also send it to clients not following that program— as above— because the underlying point transcends any exercise or dietary program.
And much more besides.
This week I'll address the final barrier to negotiate if the realisation of a sustainable, ongoing, meaningful fitness (exercise, diet and broader lifestyle behaviours) practice is to have any chance.
And I'll start by congratulating you on your efforts so far. And then take the gloss off it by suggesting that too is the problem. Congratulations, I mean.
I mean, really, congratulations for what?
If you didn't already, you'd now believe me a miserable old curmudgeon. After all, you've worked damn hard. You got up early. You disrupted your diet. You drank a helluva lot of water. You've damn near rearranged your whole life to accommodate a daily fitness practice.
All of which—except the miserable old curmudgeon bit— is true. And all of which is virtuous, high-minded and principled. But whether congratulations are your due or not, it's not useful to think so. I'll direct you to U.S.M.C. Fitness Report 1610.
To encourage your participation in this little exercise, first note this has nothing to do with machismo or even the military. In fact, I make sure to distance Leftfield from the faux-military bullshit that pervades the fitness—and especially the outdoor fitness arena. Look beyond the specifics and consider instead the underlying reason for such a document because this is something, the military does well— and the Marines in particular.
Moreso, we can employ this concept ourselves and in precisely the same manner so there is nothing fake or pretend about it. And we can do so for the same reasons; to elicit the desired outcome.
Your desired outcome.
The first point to note is the word 'Fitness' as defined here is broadly the same as the Leftfield definition. Not merely physically fit, but fit for purpose. Good to go.
It’s a short document so read every word to get a real sense of the significance, the solemnity of it. All fair enough because it’s a serious business. On the last page on the right-hand side, you'll find the ‘Comparative Assessment’ and the Marine version of a normal distribution curve.
You’ll notice it's not bell-shaped.
Because the Marines are not interested in average. Or, more accurately, the Marines don't tolerate anything below highly competent. And so instead we see a triangular, Christmas-tree-shaped diagram. At the top, we find the rare Eminently Qualified Marine, and, in ever-increasing numbers below, all other Marines, none of whom are less than highly qualified.
The sole reason the Marines achieve that standard is because they don't hand out prizes for merely doing your job; that is assumed. The Marines recognise that if you deem basic competence worthy of praise or reward, you can look forward to not enjoying that for very long. Humans aren't wired that way. It's too easy to opt-out of the extra mile. I can still believe myself to be a good person without helping every old lady across the road.
So instead of patting ourselves on the back, we too are better served to think like a Marine and to view NOT achieving and maintaining a fitness practice as a dereliction of duty.
Failing yourself. Your loved ones. Your colleagues. Your — take it as far as you like. Take it as far as you need to make not doing what is necessary impossible.
I'm aware this amounts to heresy in a day and age when the Instagramming of every workout and green smoothie is seemingly mandatory. But, as detailed over the past few weeks, fitness is uniquely subject to a curious infantilisation that comes at great cost. There is much hand-holding and head-patting, all of it disconnected from the physiological reality—the biological imperative of regular exercise.
The science of behaviour change reveals that one action or the other is almost wholly determined by how we set the table. You can choose to view fitness as being directly analogous to teeth cleaning, hair washing and nail clipping; as basic body maintenance.
And— as soon as you do— it becomes both non-negotiable and uncelebrated.
Believing congratulations are our due for being merely responsible tenants of body and mind only further condemns us to forever falling short of the mark. Sadly deficient in every reasonable human fitness capacity.
Bringing me to a final, super important point. When lost in the mire of misinformation and marketing, as I've detailed these past weeks, a fitness practice as described is near impossible to achieve so, at a societal level this ship has sailed. But viewing anything less than an ongoing, sustainable fitness practice as a dereliction of duty is not a judgment conferred on others.
It is a tool. Not a moral, but a pragmatic one. A purely personal lens through which you can decide to frame something only to make the desired behaviour more likely. To make it guaranteed.
And an understanding that, as surely as the lack of such a practice is punishment enough, the real reward is the practice itself.
Enjoy your weekend.
- OLI