Every day we face a bunch of pivotal decisions that determine who we are and how we progress, even though most of the time we don’t realize it.
There is only so much self awareness one can reasonably expect from an average person, even an extraordinary person. But we still have direct control over our everyday actions, and the little ones do add up.
The decision to get out of bed instead of sleep in, to eat something for breakfast instead of something else, the same for lunch, the decision to go for a walk or work out when you’re tired, the decision to snack on something when bored, whether you prepare something for dinner or order out for something else, when you go to bed, whether or not you drink alcohol, etc. I’m not even scratching the surface of what kinds of decisions come about.
Each of these decisions, however inane or trivial they seem in the moment, actually are pivotal for shaping who you are and who you become over the long term. You are not necessarily the workouts you do, the people you hang out with, who you associate with or support, where you work or go to school, what great things you’ve accomplished or failed at.
You are actually the sum and average of the little decisions you make and the actions you take every single day. Whether they fall in out of habit or you consciously decide to do them, every action you take is essentially a vote for who you are going to become in the long run.
I recognize that I have a workaholic drive when it comes to training. On days like today I feel the recurrent pull to go and train, even though the plan all along was to relax for a full rest day. Part of it is the temptation to feel bad at the end of the day if you don’t do anything.
But don’t forget that rest days are in a way part of your training. Your body needs some bounce-back time to not just recover but absorb and supercompensate for the training you had just done. It’s not necessarily the exercise that makes you stronger, but the recovery and supercompensation your body performs while resting that ultimately makes you stronger.
This is the sort of stuff I have to remind myself to remember every time I have a full rest day on a weekend, like today.
I went out for coffee. I later went out for a huge brunch. I took a nap. I went out to get groceries, and came home. I’m going to bed. This was one of those days I got it right.
Tomorrow I’ll train long and maybe do a double day. But not today. Until then….