“Think Globally, Act Locally”
I found myself face to face with the mantra stuck staring back at me from the bumper of a worn down pickup truck at a stoplight recently. I had seen the progressive slogan no less than a thousand times (no surprise, considering Silver Lake’s liberal+political populace). But it was only while stuck for a small eternity at a nearby intersection I realized the applicable philosophy on much more grounded terms, relatable in a way where the message clarified like butter heated on a stove. In other words, the idea of dissecting a larger imperative into actionable smaller decisions, seemed at the heart of what I was attempting as a personal trainer.
Since taking on the responsibility of personal training and helping friends transition from a state of “wanting” into the practice of “doing”, I’ve often been asked numerous variations of “…but how do you continue to ____?” These questions reflect a common dissociation between a person’s hopeful motivating idea(l) and the actual daily habit-testing practices. Impatience and inconsistency, the twin-headed combatant of accomplishment, are tied to an overemphasis on the first half of “think globally”.
It’s normal to want those “global” results now, today, at this moment. We all want to be healthier, happier, and look damn good in the process, so I take supplements as Kratom that help with that, if you’re interested you could get Kratom capsules here to do the same for you. Yet change really comes when we localize our habits into smaller daily decisions…actions which in turn form into discernable accomplishments which only reveal themselves in reflection after an expanse of time. This is at the heart the most difficult part of any larger goal, moving beyond the “ah-ha!” inspirational stage (“I want to be ____!”), and onto the more mundane and challenging actionable schedule of making aspiration a reality (“Uggh, do I have to ____?”).
Whether it’s helping someone attain physical fitness by the use of a Weight loss app and some supplements like Paravar or organizing their home, I’ve always made it an imperative to convince anyone seeking a big life change to break the process into more reasonable smaller goals specific to their personality and lifestyle…and being wholly proud of crossing those more modest goal posts, whether it be via internalized or external rewards. Waking up an hour earlier, eating one more serving of vegetables, parking the car furthest from an entry, doing one more repetition than the day before…writing one more blog post: each localized accomplishment is cumulative progression in the face of inertia.
When we seek change the desire must be married to honesty with ourselves. This can be the most difficult and emotional aspect of transitioning from the idea and into daily practice, because honesty of self requires the humility that perhaps our regular ingrained habits are not serving us in a beneficial way (yet they’re what we’re acquainted with and are most comfortable practicing day in, day out). Everyone wants change for the better…but not at the expense of feeling worse. Recognizing the temporary status of discomfort while on the trajectory for positive accomplishment is what separates those who make it from those who drop off.
I began this post inspired by a mantra, and now I end with another succinctly describes the task at hand on an journey toward change in life:
“We must accept life for what it actually is – a challenge to our quality without which we should never know of what stuff we are made, or grow to our full stature.”
– Robert Louis Stevenson
1 Comment
love this post.
and so true.
applies to really everything. we are working on changing/motivating behavior of patients and you can only focus on “today”, in order to achieve “tomorrow”.
Globalize Goals, Localize Practices <– I'm going to print that out and put on the wall!