I remember going up the escalator at Macy’s in the Cape Cod Mall.

My mother, calmly walking up the escalator like a normal human being, would say that I was going to hurt myself (probably) or that I was making a scene (correct) or that I was interrupting people trying to get down the stairs (also correct).

Sometimes I was able to reach the top, tired and out of breath, my mother would arrive at the same time laughing at how much work I had to do.

Spend enough time in an airport (or travel with kids), and within minutes, you’ll see kids trying to run in the opposite direction with a People Mover. Fatigue for them, entertainment for us.

See where I’m going with this?

My friend Mark Manson posted the following ,his newsletter, this week:

“All the drive, persistence and motivation in the world won’t do you any good if you’re working on the wrong thing. In fact, it will do the opposite.”

Which brings me to today’s question…

Where are you going DOWN the escalator UP?

Earlier this year, I remember having a conversation with Coach Matt from Team NF ,coaching clients, who succeeds and who struggles.

• Those who find success: they identify the escalator moving in the right direction, and work hard to get there. Each step increases his efforts.
• Those who fight: they continue to spend energy, will and effort on changes that don’t move the needle.

I bet you’ve had moments where you wonder if all the effort is REALLY worth it, or why progress seems harder than normal.

Here are some examples of trying to climb the escalator below:

• Spending a lot of money on expensive accessories (no prescribed by a medical professional).
• Switching to organic, gluten-free, or low-carb keto-based snacks alone in the latest trend
• Don’t try complicated diets really reduce how much food you eat.
• Doing the exercise you hate exclusively for weight loss reasons.

Running (and anything else considered cardio) is big for heart and lung health. But it’s running and cardio ,very effective for weight loss, than you think (unless we also adapt our nutrition strategy).

In my opinion, you want to get “toned”, which means you don’t just want to “lose weight”, you want to keep the muscle you have and lose the fat.

If these are our goals, then focusing on the right escalator is key.

Here are examples of climbing the escalator:

Show me someone who eats mostly protein, fruits and vegetables and strength trains (with progressive overload) for 30 minutes a week, and I’ll show you someone who goes UP the right escalator.

Here’s the thing: ,humans are not wired to love exercise,. We’re also not designed to grow up in a world where high-calorie, nutritionally empty delicious foods are always available.

This means we will spend valuable brain power and energy doing it something, We could choose the right things to deceive ourselves.

Yes, this also has a “life vs behavior” change component (which I covered in a previous newsletter. ,Manageable vs. Significant,). But deciding “how quickly I want to implement these significant steps” is a better question than “Why am I not making progress though.” working so hard?”

Go down the wrong escalator and go to the right.

Make good use of that effort!

-Steve

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