A couple of weeks ago I had a disaster workout. I took a hard fall on the rocks a few miles into a long run, then just muddled through. To describe it as an uninspiring performance would be charitable. As we walked to the car after, I told John that the last three hours had been just going through the motions. When I put the run on Strava Tim in Dallas posted an unprompted comment – “Go through the motions.” The suck level was obvious just from the numbers, but he meant it and I took it as a compliment.
Going through the motions is severely underrated. We are not always going to bring our A Game or feel motivated or be fully prepared for the challenge the day has in store. The choice we then face is:
(a) Do I go through the motions? or
(b) Do I not even go through the motions?
How we answer this question is often the difference between success and failure.
When we choose to go through the motions, we are choosing to be consistent. And consistency is the secret sauce for self-improvement. This is true regardless of what we are trying to improve. Racing, getting strong, building a business, becoming proficient in another language, learning an instrument, improving mental health, staying sober, achieving career goals, being a good parent; all these require consistency.
When I reflect on things I have failed at, the problem is not that I had a bad plan but that I failed to consistently execute the plan. That is the reason I can’t play the guitar or speak Spanish.
The truth is that for most things consistency in executing a plan is more important than the details of the plan itself.
For an example, let me bring it back to running. One thing I have often posited is that anyone who can walk can finish a marathon. (In point of fact, many people who can’t walk finish marathons). When I say this some people get offended or look at me in disbelief. But those people do not understand the power of consistent effort applied over time. The steps to finishing a marathon are simple:
- Decide to finish a marathon.
- Pick one of the thousands of beginner marathon training plans off the internet. It does not matter which one. They all work.
- Do the training plan. Do every workout. Slow is fine. Walking is fine. Go through the motions.
Anyone who does this will finish and will likely find themselves to be a different and improved person at the end. Step 3, the consistent execution, is the hard step.
Its good to be a dreamer, good to set goals, and good to formulate plans for success. But all our dreams, goals, and plans are useless without consistency of execution. We must do. We must act. And sometimes that means we just have to through the motions.
Vamonos Baby! 