Success is getting the reps in

Contrary to popular belief, success comes not overnight, but from getting the reps in. 

J.K. Rowling was rejected by twelve publishing houses before Bloomsbury bought Harry Potter.

Marathon runners did not start out running 100+ mile weeks. They started with one mile. Maybe even a half a mile.

The monk did not find peace the first day he meditated. It’s a practice— and has to be performed daily to keep that zen state.

We love new and convenient. We live for that little dopamine spike when something new crosses our path, or we embark on a new journey. 

Our “plugged in” lifestyle adds to this. All of the notifications, beeps, compulsive checks feed the reward center in our brains— keeping us sufficiently distracted. 

It keeps us from becoming bored.

The annoying little secret is that mastery comes from boredom.

It comes from showing up even on days we don’t ‘feel’ like it.

It requires us to be able to do the reps, run the miles, put in the work day in and day out in order to reap the results that we want.

But, dang, sometimes it is just so ding dong hard to show up. To do the thing that needs to be done in order to get where you want to go.

To combat the resistance, hold yourself accountable, and to actually do the thing you want to do (gain muscle, write a book, switch careers, build a business, WHATEVER it is) there are tried and true tactics to do so:

1. Make it a game. We are hardwired to play games. Can you gamify your boring tasks? Perhaps there’s a reward at the end, or you can track your efforts and reward the longer-term persistence. (Tip: there’s something magical about tracking on a calendar or piece of paper and visually seeing how many times you’ve shown up for yourself in black and white)
   • Example: When I’m done with this blog post, I will get up and go outside.
   • Example: If I move my body for at least 30 minutes a day, 5 days/week for a month straight, I’ll book myself a massage.
     
2. Do it with a friend. Studies have shown we are WAY more likely to do something if we have a friend to do it with.
   
   I go for early morning walks with a friend, and there have been many mornings I wanted to skip the walk— but I knew I’d catch a bunch of grief if I did. (And I’m always glad I went!)
   
3. Radical Accountability. Studies have shown that the highest indicator of sticking with a habit is if people imagine what would go wrong if they didn’t do the thing they said they were going to. (For the record, I MUCH prefer the carrot to the stick, but wanted to include this here in case you find this useful).
   • This can look a couple of different ways.
     • Visualizing what would happen if you DON’T stick with the habit/do the thing you said you were going to do. (E.g. have health issues, never publish that book, never feel like you’re making the contribution you’re meant to)
     • (This one is brutal): A Habit Contract. You create a signed contract that says if you don’t do what you say you’re going to do, you’ll donate money to an organization you hate, or wear an opposing team’s swag.
       
       In Atomic Habits, James Clear cites one man who was so committed to regaining his health, he signed a contract to pay his trainer $100 for every workout he missed, or every time he went off of his nutrition schedule. He also had to give his wife $500, dress up every day for work AND on Sundays AND… wear a hat for a sports team he hates. He signed the contract and had his wife and trainer sign it as well.
       
       That is commitment.

However you show up— excited or bored, alert or tired— the important thing is simply to show up. Master consistency, and transformation becomes inevitable.