A few days ago, I ran into someone at the gym I hadn’t seen in a while.
A few months back, they were exercising hard — 5, 6, sometimes 7 days per week — and they were getting great results. They looked and felt great.
Then they disappeared.
When I saw them again recently, they said, “Holidays threw me off course, it’s time to fully lock back in.”
I respected the mindset.
But I also didn’t want to over-celebrate the restart and ignore the unnecessary stop.
So I asked:
How can we be mostly locked in for the next 10 years straight, instead of fully locked in for 6–8 weeks and then not locked in at all?
A lot of people build their plan around what would be impressive once.
A better strategy is to build your week around what you can repeat:
- A wake-up time you can maintain
- A simple breakfast you can stick to
- 2 workout days at realistic times
- Walks you can fit into your life
- Meals that still work when you’re tired or stressed
They build momentum.
They build confidence.
They build identity.
You do not need to be perfectly locked in.
You need to be repeatably locked in.
– James Pratt