The Power of Habit is some book I've never read but I've seen the name tossed around. I'm not talking about the book.
If there is one thing I've been historically bad at, it's consistency. My whole life, I've been a passionate person. Full of varying hobbies from Tennis to Gardening, Philosophy to History, Music to DIY. You name it.
But I have always kind of cycled around them. There's never enough time in a given day to cover even a fraction of potential hobbies, so I tend to get really into one thing for a bit, and just when I'm thinking I could do this forever, it starts to fade away and I move on to another hobby. It can take a while before I get back to the previous one, depending on what it is. Seasonally, tennis only comes around in spring/autumn. Gardening comes and goes depending on where I live and I haven't realistically gone fully into it since I moved into my current home 3 years ago. But it's always on my mind like all the others.
I have paid for gym membership several times in my life and not once have I managed to finish a complete year. When it gets too cold, or I get sick or busy or people start to socialise with me while I clearly have giant headphones over my ears, it just kills it for me.
So really, I failed to truly excel at anything. I've become a kind of jack-of-all-trades, master of none. This is cool. I'm quite happy with that generally. The older I get, the more jaded I become of the 'expert class'. That's not to say they aren't experts in their respective fields - they are. But that's all they are good at, for the most part. This is also fine but I guess not really for me. I prefer to get a good taste of everything I can.
(This one is AI)
But lately, consistency has been entering my world. Obviously my routine day-to-day is mind numbingly consistent going to and from work, but the nature of my commute has changed over the years.
I started off getting the company bus which required me to wake up at about 6:20 am to catch. Over time, I'd get a taxi or subway one way, then both ways, and now I have a mix of Taxi, Subway and Bicycle.
Each day I cycle 5 minutes to the metro in the morning, and then 15 more intense minutes from work to its metro station. Finally I do the 5 minute cycle at the other end back home.
I have done this for quite a while now but only a couple of months ago did I actually notice the consequences.
My legs are ROCK SOLID.
Since I never became a bodybuilder and I don't go around touching other muscular men very often, I never actually felt rock hard muscle before. It genuinely feels like a slab of wood or something when I tense my thighs.
My wife has taken to calling me 'Your Thighness'.
I can see very defined contours, shadows that appear when I tense, and disappear when I relax. When I stretch in the morning, my legs just feel powerful.
Of course, all of this is ruined by my cranky, creaking knees of old age so it's not like I am about to become a marathon runner, but STILL. It's a wild lesson to learn. Consistency does indeed pay off.
We all know this intuitively, but to experience it in a way that just came naturally from my life routine is so satisfying.
It took me 37 years to learn this basic lesson.
But to be honest, before then I never really had to think or concern myself about such things. Youth just kind of worked on its own. Now it doesn't so things need to change. I've decided, then, to apply this consistency to other things.
Due to my back injury I can't go full body routine, but I can work on my arms and chest no problem. Rather than doing what the internet always pushes people to do - turn it into a massive lifestyle thing, only eat protein, hours at the gym - I'm just doing a little bit each day. A little while I'm at work, a little at home. Really just a few minutes each time. But every day where possible.
And, once again, results are starting to bear out. Biceps are solid but so are the triceps. The pecs are starting to activate and be more defined.
I'm still a fat lazy blob for the rest of a given day but it seems the philosophy of consistency is too powerful.
I've also switched out coffee for tea, and I drink a 1.5 litre flask, of water, two Yorkshire Gold teabags, a dash of milk and a 1/2 teaspoon of sugar to take away the bitterness. Every work day I glug my way through it.
It keeps me awake, but not shaky. It doesn't make me need to rush to the bathroom. I don't feel drugged. I just feel a bit more present. It's nice!
My bowels have never been this consistent as a result either. I have always struggled to keep up the hydration. Famously, I would go by each day years ago with little more than a can of coke per day. Now, everything is running like a well-oiled machine down in the bowels. There was a point I was worried I had IBS but all those fears are gone now.
What else can I do?
Now a certain principle has truly hit home, into the back part of my lizard brain, it has opened many doors which, to be fair, were already unlocked, unbeknownst to me. So now I want to apply the practice to other things.
Diet is still a struggle. I don't pig out nearly as much as I used to, but as my metabolism slows with age, I'm still not doing enough to counter it. I just haven't settled on something I can do long term without worrying or craving. Work in progress.
Guitar is another. I'm far worse at guitar than I ever used to be. But now I have a guitar I genuinely love, a special edition Cordoba Studio GK Negra, it calls to me, making me play. I intend to build a professional repertoire. Just for myself, really. Unlikely anybody else would hear me perform.
I want to complete an ALBUM. It doesn't have to be anything meaningful. I kind of want to just make an album of EDM tracks purely for the sake of learning particularly nuanced Music production techniques.
I've been back studying Chinese for the last 40-50 days in the name of this consistency. I feel ashamed I'm not comfortable having full conversations with my wife's family, and I want to change that. The day I can tell a story about some events in my life that make everybody either laugh or 'wow' - then I'll be happy.
Of course, I'm quite happy with who I am already. I'm quite wise, artistic, thoughtful. I've improved my state of emotions greatly since I was in my 20's. I'm far less insecure, generally more comfortable with where I'm at in life albeit in the wrong country. I suppose prior to that, I never felt comfortable enough to focus too much on self-improvement.
But nowadays it feels like the most important thing I could even be thinking about. Funny how things change.
Last time I quit my job and took a year off, it was the most miserable time of my life. I basically spent the entire year lying in bed. At least that's all I can remember. I vowed never to do that again.
But in retrospect, I'm a different person now. I'm in a much better, less depressed place. Could I remain motivated with all that free time to power-blast my way through self improvement?
Probably not. But things are going to be shaken up very soon anyway and I might have to take a leap of faith and become jobless for a while anyway to reach greater goals. Seriously, this could happen in just a couple of months.
The future is very fuzzy right now. But at least the fuzz looks positive.
Learning the value of consistency, even late is still a win. What matters is that you now see its impact.
Good for you! I've come to the same conclusions. Consistency is key. Just show up and keep going even though you may not have the motivation. Keep. Everyday.
I have planned to workout at least 20 minutes a day. I won't become Arnold, but at least I'll stay in shape. I used to train more and be consistent, but now it's become somehow harder. But I think with having the habit, it becomes easier to increase (if needed!) over time. But consistency is key.
Cheers to you!
At a certain age you just have to accept it's more about undoing damage from careless youth, rather than trying to attain god-like powers XD
Working out definitely has lower returns now than it ever used to. The 'myth' of metabolism turns out not to be a myth too - Eating multiple pizzas and 1.5 litres of coke would keep me skinny back in the day. Nowadays I'd take up an entire sofa after a week of that habit. So let's keep it up knowing everyone else is dealing with the same burden!
Yeah, I agree, even though I'm really not very old... but a bad diet or lack of sleep can bring me down faster than I would like.
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