You are what you “MOSTLY” (repeatedly) do.
That’s my personal twist on the common saying. I make that distinction because it means we do not have to be perfect all of the time in order to make massive progress (sigh of relief).
The daily challenge is that transformation (for better or worse) is tough to be aware of in the moment. Especially when life is messy.
The slow pace of change makes it easier for the impact of a bad habit to be discounted.
If you eat an unhealthy meal today your clothes still fit you. If you miss a workout you are not suddenly out of shape. A single decision in the moment is easy to dismiss.
But it all adds up.
As James Clear says, “Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement.”
I challenge you to pause for a moment and take all your actions over the past few days or weeks relating to your health and multiply them by a few months or years.
If you continue on the same path what is the result? Is it a pretty or poor picture?
You’ve heard the saying “Death by 1,000 cuts”?
“Lingchi” (Chinese: 凌遲), translated variously as the slow process, the lingering death, or slow slicing, and also known as death by a thousand cuts, was a form of torture and execution used in China from roughly 900 AD until it was banned in 1905.
In psychology “Creeping normality” (also called gradualism, or landscape amnesia) is a process by which a major change can be accepted as normal and acceptable if it happens slowly through small, often unnoticeable, increments of change. The change could otherwise be regarded as unfavourable if it took place in a single step or short period.
The tiny actions that you do day in and day out repeatedly are the invisible forces that create your life’s trajectory and your future reality.
If an aeroplane pilot taking off adjusted the heading by only a few degrees the end destination could be 100s of kilometers of course.
Think about your daily actions and adjust them towards the direction of where you most wish to end up.
How about rather than death by a 1,000 cuts we flip the script and fight daily for “Vitality by 1,000 tiny wins”?
Remember.. You do not have to be perfect. You just have to get it mostly right to plot the right course for your life.
Health is a habit. Habits are a product of repetition. Building a healthy lifestyle is about nurturing a collection of positive habits.
