Coming to the point of realization that your health and fitness is not where it needs to be can be an uncomfortable experience, one that we are often scared to face as it means the next step is taking action. Now, this is the scariest part of all as we are at our most vulnerable and about to enter a space that we know we haven’t been doing well at, often this is where we are our own worst enemy.
All our fears and anxiety build up, coupled with unclear expectations around what we will need to do to achieve our future goals can often cause people to run away from the very thing that may be exactly what they need. I see this daily, generally once people get past that initial period of uncertainty things go smoothly.
So back to the question at hand when is the best time to start? Well to be good at something and achieve what you want in that area first you have to be bad at it and learn how to achieve what you want. With that in mind the sooner you start the sooner you can get better at it and achieve your goals. let me introduce you to the 4 stages of learning.
- Unconscious Incompetence - When you’re doing something wrong and you don’t know you’re doing it wrong.
- Conscious Incompetence - When you’re doing something wrong but you know you’re doing it wrong.
- Conscious Competence - When you’re doing something right but you have to consciously focus on doing it the right way.
- Unconscious Competence - When you’re doing something right and you don’t even have to think about it.
So when were looking at improving areas of your health and fitness at the start were really looking to just gain an awareness of what were not doing and what are the easiest and most effective changes we could make to achieve our goals. Have you ever stopped to think about the fact that you’re probably brushing your teeth wrong?
Most of us brush our teeth the way our parents taught us when we were young. We’ve done it so many times that it’s become second nature.
But studies show that 90% of people make at least one toothbrushing mistake without being aware of it: either they use the wrong toothbrush, don’t brush long enough, brush too hard, start in the same place each time, don’t dry the toothbrush between uses, or don’t replace their toothbrush often enough.
Did you just realize that you made one of those mistakes? If so, congratulations. You’ve moved on to 2: conscious incompetence. As we can see there is a journey involved in any change we want to make in life especially health and fitness. The trick is not to fall victim to perfection paralysis and not even starting till you feel like you can do it perfectly because even if you do feel you can do it perfectly we all start at unconscious incompetence. So to answer the question the best time to start is always now!
