Today is all we have but today isn’t all there will be.
That much is obvious, but knowing which lens to take, which zoom level we should use at any given moment can be tough. Should I prioritise the short-term or long-term? Should I invest or withdraw? Should I seek enjoyment or endure?
This trade off can cause me anxiety, with my natural capacity to overthink working away at whether I'm striking the balance between the here & now and the there & then.
One way I've found to minimise this anxiety is to outsource important areas of my life to systems.
If I have a system that I trust in, either due to previous results in my life or to science backed consensus, then I can stop obsessing about the outcome and simply focus on building the routines that system requires.
One example of that is fitness. I want to be someone who looks after my body for the long-term, who stays in shape but isn't obsessive about it, who has found a way to integrate a system of fitness into his life in a way that adds more value than it costs.
The problem is I'm inherently lazy. I don't really enjoy exertion unless there's some game to play or adventure to be had. Some people report enjoying gym workouts, I haven't got there yet.
Without that self-perpetuating inner drive it's important I don't force myself into routines that I resent. Thankfully I have a gym super close to home, so I've simply committed to showing up for 15-20 minutes every weekday morning.
I often get there after others and leave before they do, I don't work out as hard as many, but due to the bar being low I've built a habit that has stuck. Over the last year I've not missed a workout whilst I’ve been home.
Alongside my workout system, I've built one for eating too. I aim to get the 80% win for 20% of the effort, and so I focus simply on eating the right amount of calories and protein for my goal depending on whether I'm cutting or bulking.
There are ways to get better results quicker but implementing them would put more strain on my systems, which may then end up breaking down. I'd much rather go slower and steadier with habits I can stick to over a long period than try too hard and give up early.
I outsource tracking what I eat to an app (LifeSum) and have found that logging what I'm eating makes life easy. I might not feel like I'm losing fat if I have a bowl of ice cream, but once I've logged everything I've eaten for the day I've often found room for treats like this whilst still hitting my target.
Naturally logging everything I eat inherently brings a little friction. That friction can become tiring over time, especially when eating out, so I've started implementing a 5/2 system to help reduce any resentment. Five days a week I log everything I eat, two days a week I take a break.
One of those days is more of a cheat day where I allow myself to enjoy as much food as I'd like, and the other is a little more controlled but still relaxed with no logging required.
It takes me longer to see progress this way, but it increases my chances of sticking to the plan for the months and years ahead.
As with all systems, breaks are healthy, so every few months I’ll go a few weeks without logging anything I'm eating, to unwind and avoid feeling a slave to the system, but after a while I pick it back up, as it's a simple guide rail that keeps me on track for minimal effort.
To begin with implementing these systems was challenging, as I put in effort whilst the results were weeks and months away. But over time it became easier, as I saw the rewards of previous efforts and desired to avoid losing the ground that had been gained. As James Clear espouses, a new identity was being built over time which reinforced my behaviours, making them easier to continue and increasingly more cognitive effort to stop.
Ultimately I’m a systems thinker, and I get satisfaction when I see consistency pay back over the long-term.
Many areas of our life deserve our attention but not our obsession, and fitness is one of those for me. I don't want to become someone who lets his fitness goals dictate his life, where vanity and ego are worshipped like idols, but equally I don't want to be neglectful or unhealthy either.
Forward progress is what matters, being the best never really has. Implementing simple systems into my daily routines strikes this balance. I’d much rather be the tortoise than the hare.
Taking small daily steps in the right direction, pausing to rest when I need to and finding a rhythm I find more rewarding than exhausting has been key to balancing the desires of today and tomorrow.