The Power of Incrementals

I invited my best friend to come over my house yesterday, to come out for a good jog on a windy Sunday. My best friend and I have been friends since college. He was part of the football team of our school, and I, of course, the volleyball team.

It's been a long time since we last worked out together. Funny how the first thing he told me when we got out into the road was, "Oh, I haven't done this (running) in years". For me, on the other hand, running has always been a part of my routine. More so, when I graduated from college. It's become my stress reliever, my energizer, and as an extroverted introvert, my date time with myself.

I decided to take it easy on the jog and keep pace with my best friend, while giving him running tips along the way. My goal for the day was to make sure my best friend would be encouraged to workout again. I realized that because we grew up as athletes, sometimes there's that difficulty in accepting our limitations, that things aren't the same anymore. Yes, we're still strong in many ways, but because we don't train as intensely as before, it's going to take some time to get back to that level we were once in.

Patience. That was my number one lesson for the day. The most important thing in growing is having patience with yourself enough to not get frustrated when you don't reach your goals right away. How to develop patience? By focusing on the incrementals. Little by little, bit by bit, one by one. It doesn't matter if you start from zero. Just as long as you make sure you get to 0.25 today, 0.5 the next day, 1 the day after next, and so on. By improving everyday and achieving those "small wins", you gain confidence that IT IS possible to change things for yourself and be better.

There is so much power in focusing on the incrementals. It lessens the pressure of your bigger goal on yourself. It tells you that it's okay to go on your own pace and do it step by step. It teaches you how to accept your realities and work with what you have. Suddenly, the big dream becomes a little less terrifying and a bit more achievable. The important thing is to commit to doing the work every single day. Now that's the choice you have to make.