Introduction: Setting Expectations for Your Running Practice
Last week, what was the blog about? The basics, yes the basics of brain training. We looked at great really exceptional coaches and I explained that basically that’s what they do. Train the basics. Now what did you do? Did you take a small step in the right direction if not, don’t worry today you will make progress.
Reflecting on Your Progress: Have You Taken Action?
Exactly what did you do? Did you practice those 400x 3 pointers you said you could do? What I mean with that is what you did? Has anything changed since last week? Did you at least calculate your BMI? Or come on you did a Cooper test. See the secret is in doing and this is where some runners struggle. But not you readers, right? Hey by the way. Talking about readers. I don’t know how you find me but I want to say and send you a big thank you for our support. Some real exotic countries with new readers. I am so grateful you enjoy the content.
Most sincerely I mean this, I want to help people become better runners.
That’s why the blog is about what you can do, how you can improve. And it’s never about me, or what times I did, it’s not a me-orientated blog. But it’s authentic. And not for everyone. I understand. I always record the blog in one go, no editing, no sound effects and no ads. It’s 15 or 20 minutes of content once a week. It is enough to guide you through your warm up.
But the effect of those 15 minutes is that seeing the message has a bit of a twist. As we talk about things going on inside your brain. Examples you can relate to.
Encouragement for All Runners: Valuable Advice Inside
Now whether you are an experienced runner, or someone who currently cannot run, there is precious advice to be found, and I hope you continue to share it.
Whilst I am at it, do check out Brain training for runners. Be sure to enter Brain Training for Runners’ plus add my name Heiko Stribl. Otherwise amazon will recommend you another book. You can also buy that, but it’s over 600 pages, and if you want to get practical hands on tools you can use right away. Try Brain training for runners. It’s available as an ebook, or paperback. It’s quite cheap actually, and if you buy the paperback it has the advantage that you can use the space to immediately write down your ideas, thoughts and thereby start working. If you download the eBook, usually it’s not so effective. But either way is fine. See if you know you like to often start something new and fail to finish one single thing, then it is definitely worth it to buy the paperback. And it’s a quick read, but by immediately going through the questions, they will guide you towards new ideas, and set your priorities right.
Ok, enough about the book, sorry about that: Just wanted to explain that.
Back to the beginning. You enjoyed last week’s blog. It felt great whilst reading it, but you still are not sure where to start. Maybe, yes you agree with the basics. But nothing happened. Perhaps things came in between, you found more excuses than reasons, you just somehow didn’t couldn’t wouldn’t. Hey, lighten up. Go easy on yourself.
Many writers face the same problem. Take 20th century novelist John Steinbeck:
“When I face the desolate impossibility of writing 500 pages, a sick sense of failure falls on me, and I know I can never do it. Then gradually, I write one page and then another. One day’s work is all I can permit myself to contemplate.”
See, this problem is not unique to you. Actually, Romans 7:15 I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate.
See mankind has struggled with this for centuries. Even the holy people. LOL. And the thing is, you are making progress. It’s clear as you listen to this that something has to change.
So if that pain or shame of not doing is big enough, then perhaps, you might like to join me on following steps
And before you beat yourself up. It’s not due to willpower. Nope.
It’s about small. Tiny itzy bitzy small let me explain
Let us say to you: Want to run a marathon?
Say you want to run the marathon. What’s the first thing YOU would need to do to make it happen? You might come up with a general answer at first, or a non-committal one. I know I’d probably say “Get fit” with a bit of a shrug of the shoulders if I were put on the spot!
What you do next – if you really want to achieve your goal – is crucial. (If you don’t really want to achieve your goal, move on.)
You GET MORE SPECIFIC. You GET SMALLER. “Get fit” could get smaller and more specific in a whole bunch of ways. Here are some:
Weigh yourself. Do the BMI calculation. There. That’s a simple one.
Remember from Episode 29? Get support. What you don’t remember I recommended that you select a supporter. Someone who will help you overcome a slump. Then ensure that you plan daily time. Just time.
What’s at the heart of your goal?
Notice that the small step is not: go onto the marathon website and sign up today! Immediately signing up – especially online – is usually not a small step. It might feel like one, but it misses the next important point: the small step you take has to be related to the HEART OF YOUR GOAL. This depends on the person and it depends where you’re starting.
If you’re already fit enough for marathons then “get fit” might not be the main point of your goal. You’ve got to get to the heart of it. That’s where your first small step lies. Think of it this way: it will be impossible to achieve your goal without this thing. For instance, if it’s impossible to run a marathon without getting fit first, that’s where you’ll find your first small step.
- These small steps are manageable things. You can conceptualize it. You can imagine yourself doing it. I can imagine going to the doctor’s, going for a walk for half an hour a day, or picking up a leaflet from the gym on the way home.
- A small step can be carried out today. Firstly, it’s time bound. You know how much time (roughly) it would take. You could do it today, and you can identify a point in your day when – even though it might be difficult or inconvenient – you could carry it out. Planning to do it tomorrow works, as long as you make a concrete plan. Otherwise, your step isn’t small enough – get smaller.
Focussing on a large goal stimulates our body’s fight or flight mechanism. The more important that goal is to you, the more you have riding on the outcome, the greater the feeling of fear becomes. Fear overwhelms you, the goal feels unachievable and you procrastinate, delay and take no action.
The solution is to set goals so small that you don’t engage these primitive survival responses. Instead, you bypass the fear centers of your brain.
Tiny Habits is an approach from social science researcher BJ Fogg, the founder and director of the Stanford Behavior Design Lab. His research with over 60,000 people found that anyone can develop new habits and routines, however ambitious, if they start tiny.
Failure to develop new habits and routines has nothing to do with bad character, willpower or self-discipline. Fogg urges us to stop blaming ourselves. It’s not our fault – it’s bad design! He provides a positive approach to design new behaviors, best summed up with his mantra: “People change best by feeling good, not by feeling bad.”
So, forget willpower, let’s get tiny.
Once you know what behavior you want to build, such as writing every day, you need to identify the smallest possible way to start. There are two approaches for this.
1. Starter step
A starter step will be something very small that gets you going, for example, opening your notebook or naming a document. It’s not about doing any writing – yet. It will turn into a bigger habit, but by keeping the bar low you’ll start a routine and be able to keep it alive.
2. Scaling back
This approach gets you to look at the behavior you want, like working every day on your 70,000-word novel, and shrinking it. So rather than write 1,000 words a day, write 10. Turn up every day, repeat and the routine will build. Over time you’ll increase how many words you write.
I’ve been using the tiny habits method for all sorts of activities since 2014 when I took Fogg’s course to help me do daily physio exercises. I recently used the approach to make time for reading the Tiny Habits book, by following his approach to swapping out bad habits for good. Rather than scroll through my phone at breakfast I now read business or non-fiction books. I might not read for very long, or get through that many pages, but my pile of completed books is mounting up. I’ve developed a behavior that meets my goal of reading more. I’ve taken out the willpower: ‘I really should read more’ and replaced it with a tiny habit that works.
Surprisingly, small steps can have a big effect. Here’s how:
1 – Small steps get us started
A focus on small steps helps us get started. After all, they don’t feel overwhelmed. Then, inertia takes over and once we’re in motion, it’s easier to continue.
“The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” Mark Twain
For years, I thought about starting a meditation ritual, but couldn’t fathom investing one hour or more the way Gandhi reportedly did. (Gandhi once said, “I have so much to accomplish today that I must meditate for two hours instead of one.”)
Thankfully, I eventually learned that a mere 5-10 minutes of daily meditation has a positive effect. With this small commitment, I was able to establish this restorative habit. I simply turn on my Headspace app and clear my mind.
A common approach is seen among athletes facing grueling early-morning workouts. They focus on their immediate next step, such as putting on their running shoes and then getting in their car. Eventually, they get to their tough workout but they don’t allow themselves a chance to opt out beforehand.
2 – Small steps add up to big results
Whether you are preparing for a big presentation, renovating your kitchen or building your physical endurance, small, consistent steps add up. Take fitness, for example. One study published in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise found the group who exercised for 13 minutes per session, three times a week for two months show similar strength improvements as those who exercised for 70 minutes per session. The only catch was each session was done at maximum effort. In other words, their muscles were exhausted at the end of the set.
A similar study from McMaster University found participants who cycled for 10 minutes, three times a week had similar gains as others who cycled for 50 minutes, three times a week. Impressive. It appears the popular “I don’t have time to exercise” excuse isn’t legitimate when you consider you can fit in a quality workout even if you only have 10 minutes to commit
3 – Success breeds success
Success breeds success. Just like compound interest, small steps add up to impressive gains.
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Chinese Proverb
Once we start and realize some early success, it’s easier to continue. These small steps help to minimize your risk (while simultaneously increasing your odds of success) according to Leonard A. Schlesinger, author of Just Start. Each step provides an opportunity to learn and adjust, while feeling assured that no one step is going to bankrupt you or destroy the goodwill you’ve built.
4 – Consistency makes work easier
Small steps help us create valuable habits, which help us achieve big goals. As Olin Miller wisely said, “If you want to make an easy job seem mighty hard, just keep putting off doing it.”
Small steps help us avoid decision fatigue, which diminishes our impact. Small steps also allow us to better manage our cognitive load, meaning we have more headspace to deal with all our other thoughts and plans. And finally, small steps help us to better manage distraction. The less we have to resist the destructive habit of multi-tasking, the more success we’ll have with each small step.
5 – Progress = Momentum
Small steps create critical early momentum. And this momentum is crucial if you want your team to thrive. One of the most prevalent features of high-performance teams is the ability to make meaningful progress on important goals.
Teresa Amabile, author of The Progress Principle, found progress creates the best work experience. In other words, forward momentum in meaningful work creates the best inner work life. And this translates into higher creativity and productivity.
Stanford research supports this at the individual level. As Professor Szu-chi Huang says, “When you are just starting a pursuit, feeling reassured that it’s actually doable is important, and achieving a sub-goal increases that sense of attainability.” Note, this same research shows shifting one’s focus to the final outcome benefits you as you approach completion of your goal.
6 – Small steps aren’t overwhelming, so they are more likely to stick
Small steps are attainable and are specifically designed to not feel overwhelming. They are also easier to fit into hectic, over-scheduled days, which most people face on a regular basis.
As an added bonus, small, incremental changes are the kind of changes that actually stick. Sudden radical transformations don’t have nearly the same staying power. This is why the Kaizen approach is so popular and effective
There you have it. Six compelling reasons why small steps are so powerful. If you’ve read this far, you can give yourself a pat on the back for investing only a few short minutes to learn about this powerful approach.
