In several of my YouTube channel shorts, I reference the importance of steps, how each one counts. It’s a catchy, but helpful phrase that I think best captures the mindset necessary to stick with one’s fitness journey. I survive through the highs and lows of my journey by learning to appreciate the incremental steps.
The significance of this term is that it takes time to experience and sustain a body/health transformation. I’ve been on my journey for over 6 years and there have certainly been some highs and lows. Life has handed me my share of defeats, which affected my health journey – both positively and negatively. The saying “every step counts,” has served as a metaphor to encourage me when I make small gains.
These little steps add up and incrementally lead to the kind of progress that can be lasting. The same logic can be applied to the opposite effect. If I gradually eat the wrong things over the course of weeks or months, it’ll eventually lead to weight gain and additional bodyfat. I have experienced both, but my focus right now is on the incremental steps that are gradually leading to sustainable progress.
Perhaps the most difficult lesson I’m learning is consistency and perseverance, particularly when things become less convenient. Life doesn’t stop because one wants to be healthy and fit. In fact, it can sometimes feel like things and people are working against you. A mindset focused on incremental steps is definitely essential for such moments. This journey is truly like a marathon with peaks and valleys through all seasons.