I would love to go to the gym every day but when can I spare an hour of my 24 to make it happen?
I once saw a meme making fun of all the things you have to remember during your golf swing. It was a golfer, holding his club at the top of his backswing and there were about 25 little blurbs saying things like, “Keep your head still,” and “Keep your weight on your front foot.” Most likely good advice, but it just made me think about how overwhelming learning to play golf can be.
Lately, I’ve been trying to get my girlfriend into playing with me. I bought her clubs and showed her some videos on Youtube. As if that was all it would take…
We went out to play the other day and she couldn’t seem to hit the ball as well as she knows she can. So, being the fixer that I am, I tried to give her a few little tips here and there, to see if they would make a difference in her swing.
Finally, after a few of these tips, she looked at me and said, “I know you’re just trying to help but I’m already having trouble remembering the 400 other things I’m supposed to do.” I could tell she was getting frustrated.
All I could do was laugh. It’s easy for me to make a small adjustment here and there because I’ve been playing for long enough that most of my swing feels have become second nature. But, for someone who’s new to the game, it’s mindboggling.
Even Tour pros don’t see positive results for months when they’re trying to make a change in their swing.
It’s interesting because it took having that conversation for me to realize that this doesn’t just happen with golf. It happens with everything in life.
Humans are creatures of habit. And any time we change our routine, it takes time to adapt and adjust to those changes.
Adult life is just one huge state of overwhelm. You’ve got to go to work to pay your bills, you’ve got to clean and do laundry, (ugh, laundry) and you’ve got to figure out what to eat three times a day. And that’s only scratching the surface of what needs to be done in a day.
I find myself always wanting to do more but completely unsure of how to make those changes.
For example, I listen to all sorts of podcasts giving great advice on how to live a better life, and most of the time I have zero ideas on how to incorporate it into my day.
Eat these foods, read this book, buy this crypto, wear blue-blocking glasses. There are so many ideas out there about making life better, but frankly how much of that advice is actually applicable? And how much do we physically have the time to incorporate?
I would love to go to the gym every day but when can I spare an hour of my 24 to make it happen?
In all honesty, I may never make it happen. But, in retrospect, maybe I just need to make small changes over a long period of time in order to get them to stick. Just like a golf swing.
Even writing this blog has been something I’ve had to work in slowly. I’ve written a bit in the past but never anything consistent. I had to build up a collection of several of these prior to releasing the first so that I could stay ahead on getting them out.
But even then, I fell behind the curve and here I am writing this only an hour before I’m supposed to send it.
Life moves fast but making this little blog a priority in my life, and promising myself to be consistent with it has made it happen. It took a long time but practicing when I wasn’t consistent taught me how to make it easier on myself when I needed to be.
A small change here and there over a long period of time has made this thing come to life.
Maybe that’s all we need to do. Maybe that’s all we can do.