The inches matter

I had an ah-ha moment during a workout this week that I wanted to share with all of you. I lift heavy weights twice a week with a trainer. The workout is only twenty minutes long, but the intensity is super high and the reps are super slow. My brain is fighting me, urging me to quit the entire time, so they pair me up with a trainer who is coaching me through it rep by rep, inch by inch. The whole point is to maximize muscle fatigue in the least amount of time. So, the loading the muscle with heavy weight and pursuing each rep slowly, with purpose, both up and down, with proper form, is the way to go. During my last workout I was trying to be sneaky and quit slightly by pausing at the end of the rep to give myself a micro-break. The trainer picked up on this in no time and told me that the workout takes place inch by inch. Each micro movement in inches matters. He said that if I paused at the end, then I missed out on the benefits of the entire rep. All my new effort will be in gaining new momentum to get it started all over again instead of being in constant flow to lead to muscle failure. Pausing ever so slightly halted my overall progress.At my spinning class the next night the instructor talked about focusing on each and every pedal stroke as if it was our first one. This had me really focus on the micro movements there too instead of pausing and sitting a lot in anticipation of not making it through the entire class.

So many of my clients come to me very discouraged because they are looking at the macro result they want. They want to lose 80 pounds, fix a relationship, earn 6 figures in a short amount of time. They stare at that macro goal and their brain shuts down because of the overwhelm. Then doubt sets in and they often want to pause on themselves and thus their momentum and overall progress.What I want to offer you here is that focusing on the smaller goals inch by inch is what will help you attain the larger goals. Staying in that continuous flow of momentum is what contributes to gaining the necessary strength to get to the end of our goal. If you keep pausing on yourself, you have to rely on new momentum to get you through losing out on the momentum you had built before- hand.If any of you remember Al Pacino’s move Any Given Sunday, he gives an epic locker room speech about how football is a game of inches, https://youtu.be/m_iKg7nutNY. This applies to all of our goals. If you have a weight loss goal, focus on the micro decisions you have several times a day. That extra cup of water, that 10-minute meditation, that snack you said no to. These little decisions that keep you in flow really do matter. These little inches are all around us for the taking, or for creating. That extra kiss you give your kiddo for no reason, that thank you note you leave for your partner unexpectedly, the extra slow rep you do at the gym with precision instead of quitting. It all adds up. The small goals matter a lot. The micro moments are there for the taking.When you have a huge goal in front of you, break it down into super small steps and go all out to meet them. The small steps might not seem like they matter, but they do. And they all add up. Also, when you do have a micro quit, don’t dwell on it, learn and move on and look for an extra inch to take the next day. Find those little inches in your game of life today and give them all you got.

If you want a mental trainer by your side for 3+ months to help you nail your goal, reach out for a complimentary consultation, I have two left in August, grab your spot here: http://bit.ly/2rD8YZkLet's do this!