A friend of mine and I had a conversation recently about the more options we have, the harder it is to make decisions.
Which, on the surface, seems strange to me.
You’d think that with more options available to you, the more likely it would be that you would find exactly what you were looking for.
But it doesn’t happen that way. We get information overload and start an internal debate about “why this one is better than that one but that one is better than this one”, and so on.
Like today for instance, my friend Mario and I had taken our families on vacation for the weekend and while at Downton Disney we went for a churro.
Always a fine choice.
However, they had more than just the traditional cinnamon and sugar churro.
They had salted caramel, Oreo, watermelon and about 4 other flavors.
How are you supposed to make that decision and not regret it?
My simple decision to have a churro just became more complex, just by adding more “options”.
This isn’t the only time I’ve been overwhelmed with options.
About 10 years ago, when once again, I was trying to get myself back into shape.
I would rifle through the newest workouts in Men’s Health magazine trying to decide what program would work best.
I’d try one for a week, then switch to another for a week, then another and another.
Constantly changing the plan and never really getting results.
Then I stumbled across a book called "Body For Life" by Bill Phillips.
In this book there was a 12-week plan. 84 days of exactly what I was supposed to do.
I did have to choose the exercises from a list provided but it limited my options, causing me to focus on just getting it done.
Inside the book was an 84 day calendar with the blueprint…
Day 1 - Upper Body
Day 2 - Cardio
Day 3 - Lower Body
Day 4 - Cardio
Day 5 - Upper Body
Day 6 - Cardio
Day 7 - Rest
This would repeat for 12 weeks, alternating from 2 upper body workouts to 2 lower body workouts each week.
I printed this calendar off and put it on my fridge.
After I would finish the workout for the day I would put a big “red X”, marking that day complete.
After about 2 weeks something interesting happened. My original goal of getting in shape was secondary.
My new mission?
No missed ”X’s”
After seeing 14+ “red X’s” on the fridge I became obsessed with them, there was no way I was going have a gap in this calendar.
The workout plan became simplified.
Instead of focusing on the actual workout itself, I just knew I needed that “red X”.
84 “red X’s” later, that simplification led to the biggest gains… or losses, I had ever had to date.
I was down 25lbs and 8% body fat.
