One of the superpowers that people often overlook is monotony. Our brain can get bored with structure, routine and repetition. But it’s one of the most powerful ways to reach your goals.
- If you eat the same healthy foods, you look at it as boring or fuel for your body.
- If you do the same exercises, you can look at it as boring or I’m improving my form.
It’s the simple things done well over and over again that helps you achieve a goal.
We push back against monotony but it’s a proven way for us to achieve what we want in life.
The good news is that monotony is like a muscle that can be trained over time. Some people don’t get bothered by monotony and others get bored easily and need to fight through it.
First off, you should know that the majority of results are not fast. Everyone wants the speedy version of results. They want to crank up their intensity in the gym for 30 days and suddenly see those abs they’ve been chasing.
You have to switch your mindset into long term thinking.
And you have to show up through all the results – good, bad and ugly.
Those days will come around but you must not throw in the towel based on the result. Keep showing up, keep giving it your best, keep doing it even when you don’t feel like it.
You have to commit to the process, not the outcome.
Monotony is built into EVERYTHING. Your mind can tell you “if only I was doing x, I would never get bored” but the truth is it exists in every area of life.
- It gets monotonous being a parent and getting your kids up for school.
- It gets monotonous going to the gym every week to prioritize your health.
- It gets monotonous when you have to work from home.
- It gets monotonous when you have to drive to work everyday.
I know people who work locally and get to be home for dinner with their family every night and they dream of traveling for work. And I know people who have to travel all over for work and dream of being home every night with their family.
Most people will say another person or another industry has it better. But there’s no hiding from monotony. It will find you no matter where you go.
So you can spend your life running from it and switching jobs or industries every 60 days when you get bored or you can build your monotony muscle.
Find the reward in the training, not the championship.