“We are what we repeatedly do. Greatness then, is not an act, but a habit” Will Durant (often credited to Aristotle)
I never used to believe that. I believed greatness = talent and the only people that really needed to work at things were the people that didn’t really “have it”. If I’m honest with myself, I loved rugby growing up because I could get away with being able to run hard with the ball and tackle, which were the two things I most enjoyed.
If I needed to play better I just got more aggressive, which I also loved. I didn’t work on my ball skills anywhere near enough and I didn’t watch rugby to learn rugby. I still “got away with it” and was able to play at a relatively high level in high school, but I was never a master. I had some talent but I was lazy. I had a fixed mindset.
A mate proved to me the “lack of skill” required in rugby when he moved over from the 1st XI soccer team in Grade 11 to the First XV rugby team in Grade 12. He played on the wing where I spent most of my time. He came to training and completely blew us away with his footwork. When we did pre-season agility work he had the fastest feet I’d ever seen. He could kick with either foot, from the sideline, but only without a tee.
He was fast, aggressive and competitive and so, when he caught the ball (which was as least as consistently as I did), he was menacing. He moved from one code to the next and was able to dominate both. He had talent. Or did he?
Of course he did. He was a gifted athlete. He had also worked at his craft from his early years. Soccer. Footwork, kicking, speed, agility, competitiveness - these were the skills he cultivated over years of practice. They also translated extremely well into Rugby. What looked like talent had been skill developed over time. If we could teach him to catch, pass and tackle we already knew he could attack with the best of us. And that’s what he did.
If you’ve read this far, do you know who I’m talking about? Here’s a hint. Aristotle and he are kin, racially. In Australia, you’ll typically find them on the soccer field. I’m happy he didn’t stay there. He set a challenge for himself. He conquered it. He silenced the haters and broke the stereotype. We were happy to have him on our team.
For many of us, we left our best athletic days behind us in the couple of years after we left school. I wrecked my shoulders in high school and never really played rugby again, apart from in social comps. I struggled to stick to a gym routine because I was forever dislocating shoulders and didn’t want to get them operated on. I still haven’t. I started cycling to work 3 days a week and I got reasonably fit again.. And I felt lethal.
I’d be coming home from work late promising myself an easy ride after a big week.. Until someone would pass me.. And that’s when I started hearing voices.. Have him! Pass her! Take the hill! Feed him bruh! It was bloody hard not to listen to those voices! Do you know what I’m talking talking about?
You know that feeling you get, or used to get, when you were fit and strong and powerful? That feeling that you’ve just conquered all of this but now you’re ready to take on all of that? Well, you don’t reach that state, entirely, when you’re sitting on the couch, beer in hand, supporting your favourite team. You start feeling that way when you set yourself a challenge and conquer it. A challenge even bigger than a kilo steak and a six pack (of beer). A challenge to change your daily habits.
I tried crossfit (and loved it) and I got fit and strong again. Then I broke my leg. Then I stopped all exercise. Then I got depressed. And stayed that way for longer than I would have liked. And not long afterwards, I left Canada. And now I’m home. But it took me almost 9 months to finally land on a fitness regime that I could stick to, mainly because I travel so often for work. At least that was my excuse.
Over the last couple of months a mate returned back to Australia from the UK. He had a knee operation and was in a brace with restricted movement, much like I was when I broke my leg, but he didn’t offer himself the out of not exercising like I did. He signed up to our daily pushup challenge. He’s just finished his second month and he’s been training consistently and getting better each week. He’s now out of the brace and able to do some more activity. I’m sure his mental and physical health are a lot better than mine were when I was at his stage in my recovery. Hopefully the group (and all his own efforts) helped him reach that higher state.
“Better than Before” is the title of Gretchen Rubin’s fantastic book on habit formation and that’s our goal. To cultivate daily habits that we can stick to so that we can become better than before, both physically and mentally.
We offer 7 daily commitment challenges and at this stage the pushup challenge has been the most popular.
Pushups - 5 different grips - 5 sets of 10 - 50 total
Burpees - 50 total
Leg Exercises - 30 squats and 20 lunges
Cardio - 10 minutes daily
Meditation - 5 minutes daily
Journalling - 5 minutes daily
BYO commitment
If you’d like to get involved, I suggest it’s best for you to pick one of the 7 routines that's most important for you so you can build a foundation of good habits. Once you've built the foundation and realised you CAN stick to daily habits, you can add additional challenges over time. All challenges are free, however you will be required to give a $5 donation for each day you skip. If you miss a day you can make it up the next day. If you don't, you owe. At the end of the year we’ll decide where we’d like to donate the money.
Now, you may look at the above challenges and think to yourself, “those workouts are missing exercises and body parts” or “there’s not enough reps” or “that’s not enough time to accomplish something” and they’ve been designed that way for a reason.
As Gretchen mentions in her book, “many people succeed best when they keep their starting steps as small and manageable as possible: by doing so, they gain the habit of the habit, and the feeling of mastery. They begin their new yoga routine by doing three poses, or start work on a big writing project by drafting a single sentence in a writing session.”
On the other hand, “people raise the bar when they consider starting a new habit, and then, from an impulse that’s either enthusiasm or unconscious self-sabotage, they suggest refinements that make the habit prohibitively challenging”. This was what I often did. If I couldn’t work out for a full hour I wouldn’t work out at all.
With any of these challenges the minimum is set to be achievable on a bad day so that you can well surpass it on a good one. And then keep improving on it over time and keep holding yourself to a higher standard.
I developed this system for me because accountability is something I’ve struggled with previously and I was eager to find a solution. I’m also a nerd that just does this stuff for fun. So far, this system, and the wider group, has certainly helped me. I’ve also seen the group’s efforts improve over time. If you’re interested, hopefully you’ll find it useful as well.
That’s about all for now. As always, any questions, just ask. Oh, and if you’re a woman that wants to develop some habits but don’t want to interrupt a boys club, reach out. It is mainly men at this stage but we’ll work out a solution to suit your goals and address any possible concerns.
Also, you may have noticed I mentioned I grew up with a fixed mindset. Ten years ago I also would have told you that I don’t really read books. Today I quoted one a few times. People change and grow. I did. I will. We could.
If you'd like to join the daily dones crew, email me directly at ando@andoandco.com or call me at 04 2468 ANDO (2636)