Everyday Systems

Dr. Skull is talking about exercise but the advice is equally as relevant when applied to diet - or just about anything else:

Perfection is the Enemy of Progress

I was thinking something like this regarding running. I trained to run 1 Mile with my daughter in the spring but I have plantar fasciitis so I ended up with a very painfull foot. I did make the mile though and learned I like to run. So, I had the thought that if I incorporate 1 minute of running into the middle of my daily walks 3 times a week. I will be running 52 minutes by next summer. It seems like a perfectly attainable goal for a 52 year old.

I'm up to 3 minutes as of today and so far no plantar fasciitis
pain.

We all tend to see "perfection" as a goal, but we don't seem capable to see it as the endpoint of a progression.

We want to start the perfect diet, doing it perfect and have perfect results!
We want to do the perfect exercise in the perfect amount to reach the perfect fitness.

We forget, that there is a developement, from bad to better to good to very good to something close to perfect.

But for some reason we believe we should start at the destination point or don't try it at all. Instant results, instant gratification!

That's the reason, why some people always stay at "bad", because they don't see the way over the small changes, the tiny improvements.

Constant moderate effort will carry you much further over time than short burst of exessiv acting ever could.

As our capabilities grow through moderate effort so does the amount of something we call moderate.