Should I? How will I?

Should I? How will I?

Today’s article is a short one discussing a simple concept. In Rory Vaden’s book, “Take the Stairs”, Vaden dedicates an entire chapter to the art of decision making. In life, and in training, decisions have to be made every single day. Those decisions take focus, and cost lots of emotional energy. That said, a simple shift in how you frame the decision will pay big dividends in your ability to make progress. Today, I give you examples of how to re-frame your thoughts so decisions no longer weigh you down, but rather help you progress.  Simply change your language from “Should I do this?” to “How am I going make this work?”

Examples:

Should I start exercising? —>How will I make this training program help me achieve my goals?

Should I start a diet? —> How will I eat healthier to improve the way I look, feel, and perform?

Should I get better at the Olympic lifts? —> How will I get better at snatching?

Should I work on flexibility or mobility? —> How will I improve my hip and ankle mobility so I can squat better?

You get the point.

People ask or tell me what they “should” do all the time. What they don’t realize is that  when they say this, they’ve already admitted that they need to take action. By switching the question to “How will I” you commit yourself to action, and action is the key to progress.  Remember:

Action > Inaction

Wrong Action > Inaction

Even if you don’t get it right, you’ve done something to move your progress along.  At the very least you can learn from a mistake. What is there to learn from doing nothing?