Honey, I’m ho-oooome! I’ve been back in Hong Kong for just under a week now, and I’m pleased to say that while jet lag has made me her miserable little bitch, I’ve had absolutely no issues jumping back into the swing of things because I kept that momentum going even whilst eating my face off on holiday. Yep — I do, sometimes, try to take my own advice too.
So, we’re officially in the last quarter of the year, and I know many of you will be thinking, “Look, the festive bulking period is upon us (Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, Chinese New Year, etc.), why bother starting something now that I won’t be able to see through?” It’s also not the first day of a new month, or a Monday, or any of the usual milestones one usually associates with (healthy) changes. But you know what? It doesn’t matter. And there’s basically never a ‘good’ time to start. Pick a day (with a little lead time to psych yourself up if you need to), then get ready, get set, and…
I’ve talked before about the importance I place on momentum: it’s what helps to make subsequent (and, often, larger) changes feel easier than initial (smaller) steps. Beyond inertia, which, in itself, is a horrible force to be reckoned with, there are other things which make that first step in particular so damn hard. In particular: analysis paralysis, and the fear of failure.
You kids should have seen me when I was contemplating this newsletter. Most of my friends probably wanted to throttle me — I would not shut up about what a ridiculous idea it was, how no one cared to listen to what I had to say, who on earth was I to talk about anything, what could I possibly contribute to the fitness sphere, someone will probably hurt themselves listening to me and it’ll be all my fault…
Even after I’d grudgingly decided to run with it, I found — no, I created — all sorts of other obstacles between me and publishing. What platform am I going to use? I don’t have a logo. Does RBSSJOFANS stand for “(The) Rachel Balota Super Scientific Journal of Fitness and Nutritional Sciences”, or does it stand for “Rachel Balota’s Super Scientific Journal of Fitness and Nutritional Sciences”? What day of the week will I publish? What time zone do I want to optimise for? How often will I publish? Do I even need a set schedule? How will I capitalise my post titles?
If I’m hand-on-heart honest, the biggest reason behind all that was simply this: I was afraid of failing. If you think about it, failure was either a done deal or an impossibility, depending on how you look at it, since I’d also never defined success.
And while it’s not like I’ve blown up overnight, or I’m suddenly making bank (this content is, and — as long as it doesn’t cost me anything other than time — will continue to remain, free and ad-free), but apparently there’s over 125 (!!) of you who value my insights, or at the very least, my voice. I’ve received dozens of emails and messages (<3 for each and every one) from strangers and friends alike thanking me, detailing how I’d helped them, asking for more advice, submitting content ideas, and my subscription rate continues to grow. So while I still don’t know what exactly success entails, I’d be hard pressed to consider any of that failure.
Embarking on any fitness journey is often the same: we find all sorts of reasons to not start. Much of that isn’t really our ‘fault’ either — there’s so much (conflicting) information out there, it’s damn near impossible to make heads or tails of what does and doesn’t make sense. Even if you are ready and truly want to begin, how do you pick which path to venture down? What if it’s a dead end? I think pretty much anyone can relate to these fears — of the unknown, and of failure.
But you know what? If you don’t start, you’re right — you won’t fail. But you sure as hell also won’t ever succeed.
So for those of you who’ve been reading along, soaking up the information, but still haven’t taken that first step, this issue is for you. Firstly, thank you — for trusting me enough to allow me into your sphere of noise. But it’s your turn now; it’s time to start. Anywhere, as long as you start something today. (I’d suggest either tracking your food or some simple bodyweight exercises.) Change is scary as fuuuuuuck. And yes, failure, which is likely to happen at some point along the way, will suck, but the progress you’re gonna see once you hit your groove will far outweigh any of those setbacks you may or may not stumble over.