Friction to Flow: Action -> Momentum -> Consistency

Heroic efforts are magnetic. They capture the modern keyboard jockey's attention. Set against the mundane rhythm of Monday through Friday's 9-to-5, following along as David Goggins runs a million miles through the desert and logs 14 gym sessions per week, with forest firefighting on the side, is enough to make anyone scratch their head. It feels as though Goggins has sustained this level of effort for decades, and maybe he has. What many people don't see is the incredible amount of foundational work he put in long before he became famous: battling early friction, enforcing discipline and gradually building himself into the point where his last name became synonymous with "heroic." "I'm going to Goggins this workout" is a fairly common phrase among a subset of the exercising population. No matter how you slice it, he is a true outlier on the data plot.

Not many of us are David Goggins. More often than not, a steady diet of C+ to B efforts, with the occasional B+ or A effort sprinkled in, is the better recipe for long-term success as a runner. The stacked "boring" efforts accumulated over months are far more likely to drive improvement. Extend the time horizon, and this approach will almost certainly make you faster five years from now than the perpetual "go one more" mentality. Mario Fraioli, one of my favorite running coaches to follow (check out his podcast and newsletter, The Morning Shakeout), preaches the "go one less" philosophy: prioritize an effective effort today with the promise of another tomorrow. The "go one more" approach can increase friction, which can lead to missed sessions. A missed session alone will not make or break a training block. However, when "go one more" becomes the underlying philosophy, inconsistency becomes a much greater risk.

So what makes consistency so potent? It both creates and is created by momentum. The chain is usually catalyzed by action. Action creates momentum. Momentum creates consistency. Consistency then further supercharges momentum, creating an ongoing positive feedback loop. Momentum is extraordinarily powerful because its effects compound over time. We may not see the results today, tomorrow or even next week. If sustained however, momentum will eventually manifest itself in meaningful ways. I consider it one of the most powerful forces in behavior change. It creates ease around the very thing you're trying to make habitual. That's the goal.

Momentum in a primary habit begins to unlock ancillary benefits that gain momentum in their own right. The beauty of momentum is that it can be applied to almost any behavior. It can serve as a powerful tailwind for habits you want to cultivate and a headwind for habits you'd rather leave behind. Momentum from "just getting out there" can evolve into "let's increase mileage by 5% per week." That same momentum may lead to "maybe I'll have one less cigarette, beer or whatever vice I carry around today." Perhaps it's adding a salad at lunch or skipping that weekday bowl of ice cream before bed. Before long, the simple goal of "just get out there" becomes a potent cocktail of strengthened good habits and weakened bad ones. The collective weight of those habits creates resilience. A slip in one area is less damaging because the others continue pulling you forward. The train gathers so much momentum that a fallen branch no longer threatens to knock it off the tracks.

All of that said, the magic depends on starting and then sticking with it. As noted earlier, action catalyzes the entire chain. I love the idea of accepting that there will be "friction before flow." Things feel clunky at first, as though you're walking through mud. That's normal. The key is to keep going. Discipline and an appreciation for small wins matter most during those early days.

Writing is similar for me. I often sit down with the intention of writing only to find a collection of jumbled thoughts scattered across the page. Yet after 10 to 15 minutes, the ideas begin to coalesce until I briefly and mistakenly convince myself that I'm John Steinbeck. Running follows a similar pattern. The first few weeks can feel like a slog. During that phase, it's important to remember that simply hitting the road, trail or treadmill is the mission. Lower the bar for a short period of time. Over time, something magical happens. The running begins to click, and all of those weeks of brick-stacking start to reveal the outline of a foundation. That foundation creates confidence, confidence creates excitement and excitement makes you eager for the next session.

The action item here is: start with faith, and see where that takes you.