Sunday Story…More is…

Not better. More is well, just more. Better is better.

We live in a culture where more is equated with better. If one is good, two is better. If the meal is good, super sized is better. Why, if I like it and I get results, shouldn’t I get more and better results by doing it more?

This is the horns of a dilemma. Should we practice more to get better? Of course but only if we practice well, with intention, and with an eye to improvement. Practice does not make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect. This mindset that more is better permeates some of us. If running a mile or two is good, why not a marathon? Why not an ultra marathon? Why not a triathlon? Why only work out once a day if I could work out twice? Especially if I am getting results with once a day.

The reason why not varies from activity to activity but the bottom line is this: if you want to get better at something you need to practice at getting better. Adding more is not the same as getting better. If I just do 20 instead of 10 but all of them suck then I just ingrained twice as many bad ones into my habit. And that is a bad thing.

In the exercise world that I spend a lot of time in, rest is where you make gains. If you don’t rest your body can’t recover and you just get more and more beat up. And then you start going backward, lifting less weight, and getting slower. For type A people this idea is in direct opposition to the way the world works for them. Harder, faster, more is how they live. And harder, faster, more will get you hurt and unable to perform. I take my rest every bit as seriously as I do my workouts.

This concept carries over into the other areas of your life. Adding more things into your daily schedule isn’t the answer. Scheduling your kid’s lives even more closely isn’t the answer. The answer lies in quality not quantity. You need time to rest and reflect and recover and rejuvenate. You need time to assimilate all the things you are doing into your being. We all need to find the balance between work, play and rest.

Now that I have said all that…when you work, work hard…really hard. Intensity is the key to this idea. You don’t need to work more; you need to work more intensely. You don’t need to exercise for a longer length of time; you need to exercise more intensely, with more focus and concentration. When you are eating dinner; eat it mindfully and with intention. More is not better, faster is not better, more multi-tasking is not better. Better is better. More intensity might be helpful though!

Don’t have more, Be better.

Namaste

John Mariotti

www.crossfit-odyssey.com
www.martialartsnevada.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com