A college art professor decided to run an experiment with his class to see which method would help his students produce the best pictures. With one half of the class, he had them take as many pictures as possible and pick the best picture from the lot of them. With the second group, he had them take just one picture and edit that picture the best they could. Which group do you think got the best results?
It turns out the group that took hundreds of pictures ended up coming up with the best pieces of art, because after hundreds of failed attempts, they were getting better and better with each attempt. They were learning what worked and what didn’t. In comparison, the group that was instructed to take just one picture and edit it to the best of their ability became paralyzed as they tried to come up with “the perfect” shot.
I love this example that James Clear provides in his book Atomic Habits. This is a great illustration of how consistent practice is the most effective way to achieve the best results. This can also be the most enjoyable, because when you take this approach, you have a completely different mindset. You allow yourself to be free and loose and enjoy the process rather than pressuring yourself to be perfect.
This can be powerful if we can adopt this approach to our health and fitness. Free yourself from the pressure of trying to have a “perfect” workout our “perfect” meal plan, and you’ll start to see yourself enjoying your workouts and healthy meals. See your health and fitness journey as a practice that you aim to improve on every day, knowing you’ll make mistakes along the way. See those mistakes as opportunities to learn what works and what doesn’t.
This will ultimately help you improve your relationship with fitness and nutrition, stay more consistent, and enjoy the process.
I hope this helps, and would love to hear what you think!
