“I've got to admit it's getting better 

A little better all the time” 

Strength, or as the Beatles put it ‘getting better’, starts and continues with consistency, not intensity. 

Building strength will come from a consistent practice. Imagine consistently walking through a field, over time you will build a path that will last. Run through it once and it won't leave a trace. This is how neural connections work, habits begin and strength is developed. 

If you expect your team to hit higher work quantity metrics each day it's inevitable that your team will burn out and dread will be accompanying them on their walk to the office each morning.

In regard to training, as lunch time arrives and we consider the intensity of our gym session it shouldn’t put us off going. It should be a reasonable session of around 45 minutes which leaves us ready and able to get back to it tomorrow.  

Another example of what I’m getting at is this. I avoid my accounts until my emotionless pallbearer of an accountant texts me.  I knew his request was coming, it comes at the same time each year but with every passing month leading up to it the task got greater and I avoided it more.  Now, I limit it to half an hour each week (never any more) and it works, I do it. And unlike before it has a meaningful impact on how I manage my finances. 

This philosophy extends to diet too.  

So you’ve had a few shit weeks of eating, the temptation is to starve yourself for a week… good luck keeping consistent with that. I’d put my money on you being undernourished, exhausted, sleep deprived and miserable for a day before a mighty crash and consuming double what you would have done if you stuck with the way you were eating before. Not to mention the dent to your self belief and chances of making long term change in the future. 

Just make it a bit healthier. Ok so maybe it wasn't the healthiest meal you could have had, but for today let's just make sure it was healthier than yesterday and the same again tomorrow.  

One other extension to this attitude. After 20 years you’ve reached breaking point and simply cannot work for that man anymore. Hopefully wisdom kicks in before a punch is thrown and you become aware that you will not change it for something better in a day, in a week or even a month. 

Remember this, positive emotion is our reward for moving forward on a meaningful path. So make a reasonable exit plan and identify the milestones you’ll hit along the way. You may not have a different job tomorrow but you will feel different in the current one. 

Small steps in the right direction feel better than big ones in the wrong direction. 

Do each day less than you think you’re maximally capable of. 

And increase the chances of transformation.  Why? because it’s reasonable and reasonable, is sustainable, allows for adaptation and avoids burn out.

0.1% a day = 36.5% in a year

36.5 % stronger year on year.  That’s exponential growth.  Take that strength marry it to your informed plan and you will walk toward the paradise of your potential in a multitude of areas every day. 

There's no running in the corridors of meaningful change.