

For instance, listening to you because you’re more interesting than, say…the pee smell on that tree! But the more I learned about dogs, the more I appreciated my Mom’s Goldilocks Rule.Īs a quick reminder, the other day I sent you 3 “crazy simple tips” for setting up your dog to stay engaged with you.
Goldilocks rule how to#
You see when Mom told me not to “overdo it”, how to train a dog wasn’t what she had in mind. “Don’t overdo it.” I heard that a lot as a kid.īut now I think Mom would be amused to know that I’m passing her Goldilocks Rule along to you and calling it the best advice you’ll ever get for how to train a dog. Just like Goldilocks, my Mom was a fan of moderation. When you first meet with a trainer, they’ll assess your current fitness level, ascertain your desired fitness goals, and customize a fitness plan that reasonably carves a realistic path toward your goals.Here’s how to train a dog with Mom’s Goldilocks Rule. Even if you think you’re not doing much or going too slow, you’re making a difference and working toward your goal.Ī personal trainer can provide guidance on helping you find your “Goldilocks” fitness plan, and also help keep you motivated and accountable. If you’re trying to get back into fitness and actually see results, consistency is key. The best results come from implementing small changes over and over again without stress or overexertion. This means taking into consideration your current fitness level in order to determine the volume of work–like how many workouts per week and minutes per day–you can comfortably maintain while still being challenged. Map out your starting point by figuring out your baseline. If you don’t take the time to consider your fitness path, the desired results won’t follow. However, in order to truly achieve your goals requires creating a path that makes it realistic and likely for you to succeed. So you dive head-first into a plan that may be overwhelming for you. When motivation is high, you believe you can do anything, and you’re excited by the prospects of the final outcome. The amount of unfamiliar work and stress you’ll put on your body is not practical or realistic. You may initially be able to maintain the schedule for a week or two, but you’ll eventually burn out and become unmotivated. Here’s the problem: Going from zero workouts to 5 days per week is too big of a jump for entry level.

So you decide to do a 5-day high-intensity fitness program designed for 12 weeks. You’re feeling super motivated and excited. If you haven’t exercised in a while, and you decide you want to start getting back into shape. In other words: if you take on new tasks that are too easy or too hard, that’s when motivation, focus, and consistency fall apart. The Goldilocks Rule states that humans experience peak motivation when working on tasks that are right on the edge of their current abilities. The term “Goldilocks Rule” was derived from the children’s tale “Goldilocks and the Three Bears,” where Goldilocks goes through items that are too hot, too cold, too big, too small, until she finds one that is “just right.” This is what we mean by “just manageable difficulty,” and this is an excellent example of The Goldilocks Rule. You have a good chance at winning, but you still have to put in a good amount of effort. Against this person, you might win a few points, and you might lose a few. You would need to find a tennis partner that is around your level, maybe just slightly better.
Goldilocks rule professional#
However, if you were to try playing against a professional like Serena Willians, you would very quickly lose motivation to continue playing since you would be severely outmatched. If you try to play a tennis match against a five-year-old, you obviously wouldn’t be challenged enough and would quickly become bored. The human brain loves a challenge, but only within optimal levels of difficulty. How do we design habits that pull us in rather than ones that fade away? Studies have shown that the best way to maintain motivation is to work on tasks of “just manageable difficulty.” In James Clear’s popular book “Atomic Habits,” he questions how some people are very good at building and sticking to their habits, while others struggle to stay motivated. But the discipline to maintain a consistent workout plan isn’t all about willpower. You may think your inability to stick with a fitness plan is because of lack of motivation, lack of willpower, or even laziness. It’s staying motivated to keep up the physical activity that we struggle with. We all know that physical activity promotes good health. What can a children’s story teach you about fitness motivation?
