Chasing Novelty
Counting the number of exercise fads that have come and gone is hard.
Each promises some new, never-before-seen way to get fit faster, easier, and with more fun.
However, the fundamentals of how to lose weight and get healthy are not hard. Eat healthy. Workout. Get sleep. Stay consistent. This is not rocket science, folks!
And yet, we are constantly looking for some new edge, magic pill, or silver bullet. And even when we experience life-changing results, we get bored years later and start searching for that next hot new thing.
And it's not just health and fitness. There are entire self-help industries that churn out book after book, program after program, across the following:
Therapy
Relationships
Goals
Careers
Finances
And so on and so on.
Now, it's true that sometimes significant breakthroughs occur. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) was one example that changed the industry. However, decades later, there may be 100+ slight variations on the topic that give it a little flair but ultimately build off the core concept.
And it's not just chasing the new, it's forgetting the old.
When I first learned about real goal setting in college, it changed my life. My grades improved dramatically, AND I continued to break personal bests in sports into my late 20s.
But then I got lazy, stopped using these tried and true methods, and started chasing novelty.
I started looking for shiny new objects rather than using what was already working well.
If I'm honest, I wasted a lot of time and lost a lot of momentum. I would have been far better off if I had just kept with the fundamentals and let the results compound.
Now, I find myself returning to some of those key teachers and systems. I don't need to find the next new thing. I need to get back to the basics of what was already working great and keep doing it.
And while sticking with the same old same old can get boring, the reality is that winning is a lot of fun. I'd rather have a boring process that leads to more wins than a fun process that leads to more losses.
Your mileage may vary. But if I was a betting man, you already know how to improve your life, relationship, health, and career. It is time to dust off a book or program you used in the past and get back on it.