When trying to reach your fitness and body-transforming goals, what’s the quickest way to fail? (I know that’s a heck of a question, but bear with me because there’s a good point).
The answer: do too much all at once. Sadly, this is the approach most people take.
Maybe you’ve experienced this yourself (I know I have) when you tried to do everything right. Because you were incredibly determined to reach your goals you drastically changed your eating habits (maybe even went on a strict diet that had a list of foods-to-eat, foods-to-avoid, you counted calories, weighed your food, ate at certain times and not at others, etc), strength trained several days per week, and did a lot of cardio too.
You wanted to do everything perfectly so you tried to obey all the rules of when, what, and how much to eat. You searched for the best strength training program. You included a lot of cardio. You were doing it all.
But, inevitably, after some time, this time-consuming and complicated regimen proved to be too much. You couldn’t follow such a strict diet long-term, nor could you maintain such a grueling workout schedule that left you exhausted.
Try to do too much all at once, and you likely won’t maintain that routine for long.
“What’s the point?” you’re likely wondering. Trying to “do it all” is a recipe for failure. But doing only the few things that truly matter is the recipe for success, both short- and long-term.
The few things that truly matter = the bare essentials.
Focus on The Bare Essentials
When we try to do a lot of things at once, we don’t (read: can’t!) give our best effort in all of those areas. As a result, we don’t make much progress.
However, when we focus on doing our very best with only a few things, then we can make tremendous progress because we’re able to give our best effort, consistently.
If you’re experiencing frustration from your current fitness regimen, or you want to finally make lifestyle changes you can maintain long-term, then you need to focus exclusively on the bare essentials, and nothing else. When you do that – focus on the FEW things that matter most – you can put all of your effort into each area, and that leads to real results.
Related Article: Doing Too Much Causes Stress & Costs You Long Lasting Results
By doing so you’ll develop simple, sustainable, lifestyle habits. That means the results you achieve today will be maintainable tomorrow, and you won’t experience unnecessary stress or frustration because you’ll only have a few things to focus on instead of a long, exhausting list.
How do the Bare Essentials Lead to Extraordinary Results?
To explain this, let me ask you a question: How many dominoes, that progressively increase in size 1.5 times each, would it take to knock down a building the size of the Empire Sate building?
The answer: only 29.
Because dominoes can knock over another up to 1.5 times its size, you could start with a small domino about the size of a fingernail and it would only take 29 dominoes, each one 1.5 times larger than the previous, to knock down one the size of the Empire State building [1].
That’s how practicing the bare essentials works: you do the small things that set into motion a series of events that lead to greater, and larger, results.
Entrepreneur Herb Morreale has titled this a “domino theory” and said it “is a framework that helps people understand that no matter how large or small their hopes and dreams are, they can accomplish them by seeing the world as a set of dominoes . . . all it takes is one small strategic action to set big things in motion [2].”
How the heck does this pertain to you reaching your health and body-transforming goals? Exceptionally well, as it turns out.
By beginning with just one small, simple action, you’ll build momentum going forward that can create even larger, more drastic events. This is possible because the bare essentials are simple and you need only to focus on a few things. You’ll constantly achieve “small wins”, and with each win you build confidence and gain momentum making the next “domino” that much easier to knock down.
So, What Are the Bare Essentials?
I’m so glad you asked. The bare essentials I use (for achieving health and body transforming goals) include a combination of nutrition and strength training, and they answer the question: What are the few things I must do to reap the majority of the results?
When it comes to nutrition the bare essentials consist of flexible, simple guidelines that turn into effortless lifestyle habits. Anyone can “go on a diet” for a period of time, but long-lasting changes are a result of habits, and the bare essentials produce them, not diets.
For strength training it’s about using the best exercises (that work for you) and a focus on consistently, and gradually, improving your performance. Do THAT and you’ll be knocking down Empire State building-sized dominoes (i.e., achieving your physique and fitness goals).
Recommended Articles to Get You Started
- Learn to Lift: The Beginner Guide to Strength Training
- The Simple Guide that Shows You How to Eat Healthy
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