James Clear

And there are some days where you have to be really harsh and some days where you have to be really soft. And there's all the dynamics of the athlete's internal mindset. There are days when you go out and you feel like you're a world killer and like nobody can touch you.

And then there are other days where you just feel completely broken and you're like, can I keep this training up for another six months? The more intense the objective is that you're trying to achieve, I think the more detailed and balanced and nuanced all of that becomes.

And then there are other days where you just feel completely broken and you're like, can I keep this training up for another six months? The more intense the objective is that you're trying to achieve, I think the more detailed and balanced and nuanced all of that becomes.

And then you have just your standard CrossFit coach who's coaching a 35-year-old dad of two who just wants to get in better shape. And that I think may be a totally different relationship. I don't know that I have a good answer there, but I do think it's a really important thing. Great coaches are incredibly valuable. They're rare by definition. That's why they're great.

And then you have just your standard CrossFit coach who's coaching a 35-year-old dad of two who just wants to get in better shape. And that I think may be a totally different relationship. I don't know that I have a good answer there, but I do think it's a really important thing. Great coaches are incredibly valuable. They're rare by definition. That's why they're great.

It's probably much more complicated than a lot of us realize.

It's probably much more complicated than a lot of us realize.

you said rule number one and rule number three were probably the most important rule number three is now make it easy yeah so if i could only recommend one thing if you forced me to say hey where's the one place i would start i would say start with this start with me do you hate being asked that question by the way if you would just do one thing you know how it is you know like if somebody said what was the one thing i would do to get healthy you'd be like okay come on this is like a very big picture there's a lot of stuff here same story here i do think this is a good place to start though and so if i had to pick

you said rule number one and rule number three were probably the most important rule number three is now make it easy yeah so if i could only recommend one thing if you forced me to say hey where's the one place i would start i would say start with this start with me do you hate being asked that question by the way if you would just do one thing you know how it is you know like if somebody said what was the one thing i would do to get healthy you'd be like okay come on this is like a very big picture there's a lot of stuff here same story here i do think this is a good place to start though and so if i had to pick

I would say follow the two minute rule, which says take whatever habit you're trying to build and scale it down to something that takes two minutes or less to do. So read 30 books a year becomes read one page or do yoga four days a week becomes take out my yoga mat. And sometimes people hate that because they're like, okay, buddy, I know I'm not actually just trying to take my yoga mat out.

I would say follow the two minute rule, which says take whatever habit you're trying to build and scale it down to something that takes two minutes or less to do. So read 30 books a year becomes read one page or do yoga four days a week becomes take out my yoga mat. And sometimes people hate that because they're like, okay, buddy, I know I'm not actually just trying to take my yoga mat out.

I know I'm actually trying to do the workout. So if this is some kind of mental trick and I know it's a trick, then like, why would I fall for it basically? And I get where people are coming from, but I have this reader, his name's Mitch, and I mentioned him in Atomic Habits. He lost a ton of weight. Another guy, I think he lost definitely over 80 pounds. I think it was probably over a hundred.

I know I'm actually trying to do the workout. So if this is some kind of mental trick and I know it's a trick, then like, why would I fall for it basically? And I get where people are coming from, but I have this reader, his name's Mitch, and I mentioned him in Atomic Habits. He lost a ton of weight. Another guy, I think he lost definitely over 80 pounds. I think it was probably over a hundred.

Kept it off for a long time. He had this interesting rule for himself though. When he went to the gym for the first six weeks that he started working out, he wasn't allowed to stay for longer than five minutes. So he'd get in the car, drive to the gym, get out, do half an exercise, get back in the car, drive home. And it sounds ridiculous. It sounds silly.

Kept it off for a long time. He had this interesting rule for himself though. When he went to the gym for the first six weeks that he started working out, he wasn't allowed to stay for longer than five minutes. So he'd get in the car, drive to the gym, get out, do half an exercise, get back in the car, drive home. And it sounds ridiculous. It sounds silly.

You're like, obviously this is not going to get the guy the results that he wants. But if you take a step back, what you realize is that he was mastering the art of showing up. He was becoming the type of person that went to the gym four days a week, even if it was only for five minutes.

You're like, obviously this is not going to get the guy the results that he wants. But if you take a step back, what you realize is that he was mastering the art of showing up. He was becoming the type of person that went to the gym four days a week, even if it was only for five minutes.

And I think this is like a deep truth about habits, something that we often overlook, which is a habit must be established before it can be improved. It has to become the standard in your life before you can optimize and scale it up into something more.

And I think this is like a deep truth about habits, something that we often overlook, which is a habit must be established before it can be improved. It has to become the standard in your life before you can optimize and scale it up into something more.

If you want, you can come up with a better theory, like you could come up with a perfect plan, but unless you're acting on it, it doesn't do you any good. It's just a really good idea. For whatever reason, we get like really all or nothing about our habits. We tend to have this tendency to be like, well, if I can't do the full marathon training program, then why go for a run at all?