Tag: Health

If it is Worth Doing, it is Worth Overdoing.

Some people say that everything in moderation is a good thing.  I completely disagree.  Moderation does not truly test the impact of the discipline, event or food in question.  Moderation is a hedge and a fear to understand the impact of truly committing yourself to something. 

Comparing moderation to outright commitment, I’ll start with the positives for moderation.  You are less likely to get tired of the event.  You will never feel like you have failed because you never really put in 100% effort.  You will keep some sort of balance in other parts of your life.  All fair points. 

Points in favor of overdoing things are that you can put in every ounce of your energy to best understand your capabilities.  You’ll never question what would’ve or could’ve been.  You will learn when overdoing something becomes unhealthy and will have experienced it firsthand as opposed to academically.  You’ll also gain a much greater appreciation of the sport, hobby or pastime than you would if you were treating it as temporary as tourism.

So yes, if something is worth doing, I contend that it is most definitely worth overdoing! 

Embrace the Suck – It’s Good Practice

Work, sports and relationships challenge us periodically, sometimes with more trying issues than others.  These situations create varying levels of stress that will impact or determine the way we handle the issue. Prioritization of issues is important but asking the most basic questions can help in creating a plan to attack. 

Will anybody die or face grave danger based on the outcome of the decision?  If the answer is yes, I’m not the right person to provide advice. 

If the outcome is anything less dire, it is helpful to ask trusted advisors for a point of view.  A different vantage point can lend perspective on the importance of the problem and a variety of ways to address.

Lastly, these challenges, as annoying as they can be, will serve as good preparation for the truly life changing struggles we will inevitably have in life.  Embrace the challenge – It is good to practice working through difficult decisions with slightly less significant topics to build thicker skin, coping mechanisms and decision processes that will help when bigger stakes are on the line.

Get Back to Your Baseline, Reset

Improvement, achievement and success are great motivators. Inevitably, there are times when we face challenges.  Projects with longer time horizons lead to mounting challenges that become overwhelming. This can take place around both physical objectives and those of the intellectual nature.

An example for a marathoner is a nagging IT band or slight hamstring pull.  While we want to continue our training to accomplish our goal race time, doubling down when an injury persists is rarely the best solution and may create more serious setbacks.  Similarly, if you are working through a difficult project at work without the necessary support and a positive outcome seems nowhere in sight, you may tempted to soldier forward disregarding your well-being.  This approach could lead a stressful breaking point where the anxiety itself reduces your chance of success.  

In both cases, continued attempts at forward progress can be detrimental in the long-term.  Even creating an effective plan when experiencing heavy stress can be difficult. It is important to get back to your baseline, recover, reset mentally and recalculate your course. A short recovery period will allow you to develop a clear and unclouded path to success without adding greater risk to your project’s outcome.