Turns out I needed my own advice last week (twice!)

Last week didn’t go as planned.

My wife ended up in the hospital and had to have her gall bladder removed. (It’s good now ❤️.)

Last week I wrote a newsletter from a hospital room using… let’s call it optimistic Wi-Fi.

When the email went out this week, I opened it and immediately noticed that the bottom of the email had some weird spelling mistakes. Only the first letters of the words were missing. Strange punctuation and line breaks. Things I KNOW I didn’t put there.

And my first reaction TOTALLY REASONABLE:

« Shit! How did this happen? This is such a disaster. I can’t believe I messed something up. »

Aim the spiral.

Fortunately, I had a trusted mentor to ground me.

And it reminded me of the advice I give to coaching clients all the time.

Not every workout will be great

Some workouts feel amazing.

Some feel clumsy.

Some are trimmed.

Some just don’t follow the plan at all.

And this is not a failure – this is normal!

The only unrealistic expectation is that everything will go perfectly, every time.

I had somehow gotten into that mindset this the newsletter had to be perfect. Every word. Each shipment. No exceptions.

Life (and the hospital internet) had other plans.

The real victory was not the creation of some system that would be perfect forever.

I chose to move on rather than kill myself.

It didn’t stop there

For the second time this week, I got my own advice. 😅

A few months ago I joined a group training program that helps you share your story on podcasts more effectively.

Fun twist: the trainer leading this group is also one of my Nerd Fitness training clients.

One of the things I helped with him it was creating a sustainable fitness plan—something that didn’t require burning the candle at both ends, something he could stick to.

And it worked. He feels great. It becomes part of his life.

Meanwhile, when it comes to mine podcast goals, my brain went straight to:

« Well, obviously I have to go all in. Hours every day. Total commitment. If I’m not doing this…am I even trying? »

He gently reminded me:

« It’s the exact same thing you teach in the gym. »

A little consistent work each week goes a long way.

Systems beat perfection.

Persistence wins.

And you know what? As soon as he said that and I stopped setting unrealistic expectations, I actually made MORE progress.

This is exactly the same feedback I received from a reader a few weeks ago:

Hi Matt, Thanks for this email – it landed in my inbox at literally the perfect time. And funny how feeling LESS stressed about having to exercise today actually probably makes it MORE likely to happen 😉

Why am I sharing this

In the gym, I’m very good at trusting the process.

Because I’ve seen it work time and time again.

Out of the gym? I’m still learning. 😅

If you feel pressured to:

• Be perfect
• Never skip a week
• Go all-in or don’t bother at all

… is usually a sign that we need to step back and reevaluate.

That’s exactly what I’ll be going over in a live training session on Thursday at 3pm PST.

I’ll take some of the most common questions we get from readers and help you zoom in and take a look:

• How to know if your current plan is really working
• How to build systems that survive busy weeks, low-power days, and real life
• How to move forward without everything having to be perfect

If this sounds useful to you, I’d love to have you there.

​Here is a link to register.​

talk soon

– Matt