Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.
Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Doing something with more when you can do it with less is both wasteful and pointless.
Doing something with more when you can do it with less is both wasteful and pointless.
I could end this post here but I feel the brashness of my statement requires context and explanation lest I be labelled an asshole... Which I would presume is not a good thing.
MED
This post is about the minimum effective dose (MED) required to produce a desired outcome. Essentially, the application of the appropriate amount of energy to achieve a task. Some call this laziness. I call it elegance; the smallest number of moving parts. There are benefits to doing more than necessary, and doing so may win you praise from your boss and respect from your peers. However, if respect and praise is what you desire, simply apply the MED needed to fulfill that. This is in contrast to the "doing a job and exceeding expecations" paradigm or the classic favourite of PR gurus: "underpromise, overdeliver". While effective, I believe applying the MED leads to more clearly defined personal goals and objectives. Basically, you know what you want.
Granted, what you want may not always come to pass and goals may change, but it is important to know yourself and be aware of your desires. It is a part of living both consciously and intentionally, an important aspect of self-discovery and personal development.
Also, doing more than necessary is often worse than doing less. You would not use a sledgehammer to put a nail in the wall when a hammer will do right?! Hand hygiene is important, but using too much soap can crack up the skin on your hands leading to blisters. Drinking coffee to wake up can be effective but too much and your brain will be fried, impairing mental performance.
Executing goals with just the right amount of effort is a sign of maturity. In the wild, adolescent vipers cause more human fatalities than adult vipers. This is not because they have more venom. This is because when they defend themselves, they release all the venom at once in a fit of fear. Adult vipers release only a little poison , in order to intimidate the human, and save the rest for catching dinner later. A classic case of youth prematurely expending more (ahem) resources than necessary in order to reach a goal; Resulting in not only death to the human but the impairment of the viper's ability to hunt for dinner. Definitely bi-losing. I see this all the time in fitness. Young kids "hitting" the gym for hours on end, lifting with poor technique, no programming, no progression. I should know, I used to be one. It was not until I started learning about the body and exercise principles that I started to notice some serious improvements in my physique and performance. Knowledge is the key. Use the right tools for the job and you realize you don't need much. Be a sniper, not a blindfolded uzi gunman on crack. Sometimes, less is more.
One does not accumulate but eliminate. It is not daily increase but daily decrease. The height of cultivation always runs to simplicity.
Bruce Lee
People labelled as doing the bare minimum are not lazy because they do too little, they simply have not set high enough goals. If your goal is to win a competition, doing the minimum required to get there is by normal standards high achieving. You simply reframe your mindset wherein your goals are more clearly set. Things seem more possible this way and goals become far more actionable. Make lofty goals and find out what you need to achieve them.
The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.
Michelangelo Buonarroti
Life is short, and our time on this floating rock finite. Don't waste it doing unnecessary things. Here are some ways I try to "MED" my life:
Training
I want to be strong and have an aesthetically pleasing body, so I pick exercises that match these goals and eat accordingly. Workouts should be short and intense, done with purpose. Physical activity (things like climbing, martial arts, hiking, etc) are leisure activities, and not classified as training. Here are some of my current training goals:
1. 3xbodyweight deadlift
2. 1 strict one arm pull up
3. Bodyweight overhead press
Work
I try to find out which interventions give my patients/clients the greatest lasting change. It's temping as a therapist and coach to use what seems good or what you are comfortable with, but its often the little things that have a big impact. I try to:
1. See the patient/client as an individual with specific needs
2. Do what is necessary
3. Empower them through education and knowledge
Learning
I love learning new things and I'm a self-professed lifelong learner. With regards to learning techniques, I try to reach a 95% level of proficiency in a skill and move on. Why not 99%? Reaching 95% may take a year or two whereas reaching a 99% level of proficiency in a skill (mastery) may require 10+ years. You quickly reach the point of rapidly diminishing returns, and I believe it is better to gain expert status in many skills and perform well, than to reach mastery in one without that translating to better real-world outcomes. Here are some things im currently focusing on:
1. Muscoskeletal physiotherapy, especially manual techniques
2. Barbell training
3. French
