Consistency trumps intensity
It's usually more productive (and healthy) to keep a consistent routine of working on you goals than having sporadic high intensity sprints.
INTRO
People who are way smarter and more experienced than me, noted that what we consistently do is what ends up building or destroying us.
“You are what you eat”
“Sow a thought, and you reap an act; Sow an act, and you reap a habit; Sow a habit, and you reap a character; Sow a character, and you reap a destiny”
“We become what we repeatedly do”
One of my favorite phrasings of these idea was by Bruce Lee:
“Long-term consistency trumps short-term intensity”
Bruce Lee being Bruce Lee - the go-to interpretation of this sentence is in the context of physical training and martial arts.
But I have come to believe, that this idea applies to a lot of different domains in life.
Pulling one-offs with high intensity can teach us some things, sure (like grit, pushing through an obstacle, going passed failure, etc.).
But they usually can’t build us up continuously.
Bruce Lee
Examples
Case #1 - Firearm license >> No progress
To maintain a firearm license where I live, you are required to pass a “refresher” course every 1-2 years. This is mostly to:
Filter out people who definitely should not be holding a firearm (like, if they acquired some disability that makes them dangerous firearm operators)
Remind people of the laws and regulations regarding firearm possession (for example - if you leave your weapon in your car, and the car is stollen, you are you can be criminally prosecuted!)
But, you don’t really expect to improve as a sharp-shooter just by going through a 2 hour refresher every 1-2 years, right?
Case #2 - NON-GRADUAL >> INJURY >> NO PROGRESS
That’s it.
Starting from today, I am going to go from 0km to 10km runs everyday, no warmup.
Admirable motivation and grit!
But probably what will happen is something like this:
First few runs are very hard, but I power through
Something in the knee is starting to be uncomfortable, but I push through
An overuse injury is starting accumulate, but I run it off
In one of the runs I sustain an acute injury due to the weakened overused area
Injury stops me from continuing with the new habit
Motivation is lost, habit is forgotten…
Case #3 - CRUNCHING >> NOT SUSTAINABLE >> NO PROGRESS
We’ve all been there probably.
There is a major test coming up.
Or, we got really excited about reading, and we decide to finish a book in one-sitting.
Or, we got really into this new extreme diet.
What do these have in common? Intensity…
Or more precisely, very quick ramping up from lower to higher intensity (e.g., eating whatever to extremely restricted diet).
Some people can pull such things off and reap long-term benefits, maybe.
But for most of us mortals, this is how it usually goes:
First week - enthusiasm and excitement carry us through with ease
Second week - not so novel anymore, but we carry on with motivation to be consistent
Third week - ok, this is not new and exciting anymore, and the friction and difficulty outweigh the remaining motivation, so we quit
TAKEAWAYS
In many domains in life, you need to be consistent and controlled, if you want:
Safety
Long term progress
You might get lucky and get progress from bouts of high intensity.
But, you shouldn’t expect it.
And you shouldn’t count it as a long-term strategy.
You should count on yourselves (past and future) to commit to a long-term and healthy process.
