Tip of The Day: Sequence First 

A young girl was having difficulty trying to accomplish several conflicting goals simultaneously, in search of what she referred to as a “happy medium.”

My thoughts:

Also known as “riding two horses with one ass,” this is actually one of the most common mistakes I see from people interested in making significant changes, especially in body composition (muscle gain / fat loss).

The problem is searching for the wrong target, the “happy medium.”

There should not be a happy medium.

When you were achieving a high school diploma or college degree, was there a happy medium? Did you NEVER tell yourself that classes would one day end and you’d finally have the carrot you’d been chasing after?

Losing a significant amount of fat really does not take very long (just think, at a reasonable pace, 100lbs in a year is not uncommon, nor unrealistic). It does require periods of intense effort, no doubt. The people who have been “focusing on fat loss for 10 years” have been working too softly and letting themselves continue for too long.

Without deadlines, they’re letting themselves off the hook.

Even more problematic is the tendency towards trying to accomplish goals that simply contradict each other when fused together.

Imagine if your goals were to travel to Canada and Mexico. One day you decide Canada is more important, but then a craving for fajitas sends you the other way the next day. Torn between poutine and empanadas, you never get anywhere.

The solution?

SEQUENCE.

Focus on ONE goal, attack it, and ACCOMPLISH IT.
Then, move onto the next.

It’s easier to sit atop a mountain than it is to climb it in the first place.

The “happy medium” people desire so badly doesn’t come until after you achieve these focused milestones. Only then can you enjoy the “happy medium” as periods of maintenance, where you can reflect on your achievement before planning the next one.