Sometimes it may feel like you’re going in a circle and really the PDCA process works, it’s intended to be a cycle. It’s important to remember that you are actually going on an upward spiral, even if it doesn’t always feel like it and sometimes your strength slides, you’re still approaching every workout, every week, every year with more information.
The first time I saw a picture of the solar system traveling through space, similar to below, it blew my mind. For years we’ve seen the same 8 (or 9) elliptical orbits around the sun. We go through the same 4 seasons every year, it’s clearly a cycle. It’s hard to remember that everything is moving at the same time. We’re not truly revisiting the same place because we’ve made progress. The same is true with you and your weight loss journey. Even when you gain weight, you are also gaining knowledge and understanding so you’re never in the same place.
Act is Not the End
PDCA is a cycle so while it seems like act may be at the end, it’s also really the beginning of the next cycle. It’s important to complete the check and act phases so you capture what worked and what didn’t work, you then have this information to adjust your plan. This will help you make a better plan which will likely lead to a better do and help you carry the cycle upwards.
Pivoting is Part of the Process
You’re not going to be perfect and that’s to be expected. The goal is to learn from what worked and especially what didn’t work to get to know your body and your mind better. Each time you do a weekly review, you have the opportunity to make things better. This is why we review what worked well and what didn’t, but then jump to what are you going to do about it. You have another week to make changes based on what you’ve learned, spending more or less time at different activities, coming at activities from another direction or even putting them on the back burner because it’s not for you, at least right now. This doesn’t mean you quit or failed, this means you’re acting now with more information and able to make better decisions for you.
Listening to Your Body
Several people, myself included, talk about how important it is to listen to your body. This is not something you can do overnight, you need to learn the language your body is speaking. You need to understand how serious your body’s concerns are, is it just complaining because it’s work or is there something legitimately wrong? This takes time and you will make mistakes, this is new to all of us.
Compound Interest
These small changes feel really small at the time and they are simple little changes. Though those changes will build on each other and compound, just like compound interest, something Albert Einstein considered the 8th wonder of the world. If you make small 1% improvements every week for a year, you don’t end up 52% better, you end up almost 68% better. Do this for three years and instead of 156% you end up with 372% which is more than double where you’d be otherwise. The 1% is an arbitrary number, but the reminder of how these small improvements are what really matters, each time you revisit this you are smarter, more confident and more capable. Consider what happens if you take this mindset and can apply it throughout your whole life? What if you have weeks you do more than 1%? These small changes will grow into BIG changes that are disproportionate to the effort applied.
Summary
When we feel like we’re going around in circles, we’re really going up a spiral staircase. Sometimes around you’ll climb higher than others, some you may feel like you’re not moving or even moving backwards though you have to remember, you’re learning about yourself and how your body reacts to different plans and stimuli. Use this knowledge when you approach future rounds of planning and things will continue to get better and better.