The Key To Your Fitness Success – Gary Vaynerchuk’s Better Than Zero

What are the most common excuses for not exercising and eating well? The ones I hear the most go something like this:

• I don’t have time
• I travel too much
• I hate gyms
• I don’t like exercising
• I dine out with clients

I rarely hear anyone say they don’t know WHAT to do. People have a pretty good idea what they would need to do to improve their health and fitness. But excuses abound and nothing gets done.

However, I think one of the biggest problems is a question of scale. People think that health and fitness have to be all or nothing propositions. But in fact they can be entirely incremental. Start with one little thing. Everything counts.

I hold Gary Vaynerchuk, of Wine Library TV, in high regard.  No matter your opinion of his style, if you take heed of the content you'll discover rare gems of insight.  Listen to him explain his “Better Than Zero” philosophy. He’s talking about business and personal brand, but it is entirely applicable to your health and fitness:

Start Small, But Start Today

Whatever your current level of wellness practices may be, there is always something more you could be doing for yourself. Pick one thing and start today. If you don’t have any ideas, consider one –– and only one –– of following.

• Drink more water
• Eat protein with every meal
• Eat veggies with every meal
• Add five minutes of bodyweight exercise to your daily routine
• Take the stairs instead of the escalator or elevator
• Walk over to tell your coworker something instead of sending an email
• Stretch (or better yet do some Intu-Flow) every 30 minutes throughout your day
• Cut processed grains and sugar out of ONE meal in your day

Those ideas are off the top of my head. If one appeals to you, dig in. If not, use the list as inspiration to come up with your own ONE THING. Don’t try to change everything at once. For some people, going whole hog works (I tend to be one of them). But for most it just ends in overload and abandonment of the entire plan.

Instead, master one small thing. Make it a habit. Then add another. With each small thing –– no matter how insignificant you may find it –– remember that everything is “Better Than Zero."  The cumulative effect of many small things will end up in a torrent of habits which support a healthy lifestyle.

Comments

[monica]

This is such a great post - from both the business and health angle. The first thing I thought of is: do 10 minutes of yoga every morning. It's something I've been meaning to start again for a while but I don't because... pfft, who knows why. But you're right, I don't need to start off with a whole 30-min session. Just one sun salute would get me going in the right direction (and I bet I'd even stick around for a second or third if I just did that one!).

[Adam]

Awesome Monica! Sounds "Better than zero." A lot better...

Cheers,
Adam

[Dan Conine]

Great suggestions. I am just starting an exercise program after a SLAP tear surgery and my goal is to move better and have less tendency to injuries in farming and a hunter-gathering lifestyle (something many of us will be in soon).
I completely agree with having some bodyweight exercises, and I am using a weight machine to make it possible for me to do exercises that I was never comfortable with before (assisted sit-ups to get in shape for bodyweight sit-ups, etc.)

[Adam]

Hi Dan,

A SLAP tear is a nasty thing to have to deal with! I with you luck with your rehab process. Let me know if I can do anything to help.

Cheers,
Adam

[John Sifferman - Real World Strength Training]

"...and the way you build on that is to hussle your FACE off!"

:)