Just Like Eating an Elephant

I recently started a rather large project, and I felt all sorts of emotions swirling around because of it.  I have a history of losing interest in projects and moving on to something else.  I didn't earn the nickname of "Tangent-Man" by focusing on one thing to completion.  :)

And while I'm sure I've been exposed to the idea many hundreds of times, it suddenly became clear that all that is required is to keep moving forward and eventually I'll get there.  It's that simple.

It is the old question about how you eat an elephant.  A bite at a time is the answer.  Just like eating a cricket, rabbit, or cow.  The elephant is no different in process, only in scale.

Ultimately every task I will ever take on is no different in process.  It is simply a series of actions to be taken until the task itself is complete.  As long as I don't die or have some other external time constraint before I complete all the required actions that task will be completed.

So commitment to a larger task isn't necessarily commitment to different sorts of actions, it's simply commitment to more of them until the payoff occurs.  The source of the initial stress, my decision to build another airplane, this time a much larger and much more complex model than my first, is simply commitment to many more actions over what will inevitably be a longer period of time.  Until I framed it that way, I was freaking out a little bit. 

At some point I think I must have realized this about my physical goals.  I have many times set very specific goals of losing a certain amount of weight, or reaching a certain body composition.  In many cases, I either failed or I rebelled against the process and gained weight!

Then I realized I just needed to make my goal to continue progressing.  My goal became as simple as seeing some form of steady progress.  Since I know I want to be leaner, that meant a steady change in weight.  As I get leaner my definition of progress will change to focus more specifically on strength and conditioning.  For now, I'm happy to maintain in that area while I address my primary goal of progressively lower body fat.

And just like eating an elephant, there's nothing different from how I focus on that now than there was 3 months ago.  I shoot for 150-190 grams of protein per day.  I get the bulk of my carbs in post workout meals.  I try to get most of my fat from animal sources, preferably grassfed beef.  In a nutshell, I eal real foods that satisfy my hunger.  :)

And I focus on doing that every day.  If your goal is to eat that elephant, which bite will make a step in that direction?  The next one.  The bites you already took have gotten you to this point.  It's the next bite that creates progress, and once that bite is taken, it becomes the bite after that.

Likewise, I know my next meal is the meal that can create progress towards my being leaner.  The meals I've already eaten are what have me where I am, but the next one is the one I control.  That makes it simple.  I don't need tremendous willpower, I don't need some incredible level of self control.  I just make the best choice for the next meal and move on.  Then I repeat for the meal after that, and since I usually only eat once or twice a day that means I just have to make good choices once or twice day.  Seems simple enough.

Finally, this focus on the continued progress rather than the ultimate goal creates accountability.  If I have a goal of weighing 175 pounds 3 months from now, just how much does one chocolate bar matter today?  If I have a goal of weighing a little tiny bit less pretty much every day, the chocolate bar today will probably prevent a good outcome tomorrow morning when I step on the scale.  But if I look at it that way, and avoid those bad choices for the entire 3 months my chances of actually reaching the eventual goal are significantly greater.

This is how it all works for me.  My psychology may be quite different from yours.  Some would say you're quite lucky if it is.  But if you struggle with making the choices you know you need to make to get the results you want, I hope you'll play with these concepts and find what works for you.