Every great 1980s movie has a montage. It highlights the protagonist working really hard over the course of time and culminates with a scene of the character ready to face the final challenge, or whatever. Rocky 3 & 4. Vision Quest. Bloodsport. The Karate Kid.
And my favorite 80s movie montage of them all:
All of these are awesome, but they tend to focus on Herculean efforts to prepare or improve one’s self. And honestly, the one from Monster Squad is so ridiculous in that the group does all this stuff in just one day. Only have one day to prepare to save the world from a team of the most villainous villains? No problem. It’s the 80s.
The giant efforts got all the credit in 1980s cinema, but the small efforts that wouldn’t make for great movies are probably even more important in real life. They’re also more achievable, and probably prepare you more effectively for your impending bout with Johnny Lawrence.
Think about it. How well do you do cramming for an exam at the last minute versus putting in the little bit of time reading throughout the entire semester to prepare? As someone who’s tried out both strategies, I will happily tell you that the small efforts over time win out from the perspective of reduced stress, depth of learning, and overall ease.
This advice is equally true in preparing for physical tests. You wouldn’t prep for a marathon by just running an inordinate amount in the week leading up to it, would you? Of course not! You would start out with easy runs several times a week and slowly build your workout volume over the course of months in order to prepare.
A Few Examples From Various Walks of Life
Home Renovation
I’m currently working on renovating our basement to finish a room for a home gym. When I have a free hour in the afternoon during the week (before going to pick up the Little Man from preschool), I go and do a little bit of work down there. I even like to combine a weight workout with hanging a sheet of drywall or two, so it’s doubly-awesome. I don’t make a shit ton of progress during that hour, but the little efforts add up over time, so I do it.
Personal Finance
I could talk about contributing to personal savings here, but I think a valuable example is credit card cash back. In each individual transaction, the savings don’t seem like much, but I just cashed in over $900 worth of statement credits that we earned just by using credit cards instead of cash. Just make sure that you never carry a credit card balance, because that’s horribly expensive.
Personal Fitness
Anyone who has been successful in staying fit for a long time no doubt understands the value of small efforts over time. It’s easy to get motivated to workout and eat well for a little bit of time, but staying fit takes dedication even though the observable improvements become less pronounced the longer you do it. I do 20 push-ups every weekday morning before getting in the shower. Know what that translates to in a year? 5,200 pushups. And all it takes is 30 seconds each day…
Learning
In so many ways, knowledge builds on itself over time. As I outline here, I’ve spent quite a bit of time learning different trades. But this kind of learning applies to most other subjects as well—all it takes is a curious mind and a willingness to take the time to read (or, in this day and age, watch YouTube).
Romantic Relationships
Sure, the stuff on the Insta is all about great big proposals, expensive vacations, or grand romantic gestures, but the real work needs to be put in every day to make relationships work in real life. I’ve heard that relationships work much like deposits and withdrawals from a bank… Throwing $20 into a relationship bank every 6 months with grand gestures isn’t the same as purposefully adding $1 everyday. It’s the $1 deposits consistently that are going to give you the relationship foundation necessary to make it through tougher times, even though they’re not usually good Instagram fodder.*
So there you have it. As celebrated as the 80s montage is, taking the time and dedication to put forth small, sustained efforts over time will get you where you want to be in real life. All you have to do is get started and stick with it!
*And like I’ve written before, I’m not even on Instagram. So, no need for you to even get on there!
Slow but steady…it still works.
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Thanks Twicsy! Glad to have you around and happy the article was of some use to you. 🙂