"Clink" is sometimes as satisfying as "clank"

When you are beginning to make progress, whether it is in business development or exercise, it is very invigorating. There eventually comes a "tipping point" where all of your efforts seem to have a snowball effect. Small changes start to mushroom into large gains.

For example, today I was doing some high intensity sets of free weight, 45 degree leg presses. About 15 months ago, I had minor knee surgery, and the slow progress I have been making to get back to my previous workout level has been extremely frustrating. Incidentally, to the chagrin of many physical therapists out there I am sure, it wasn't until I took my training into my own hands that it really started to get better. In short, my personal technique was to go as heavy as I possibly could without enduring excruciating knee pain to regain my strength. It has worked wonderfully, and I feel stronger now than I have in almost two full years.

Bear with me while I expand further on this. For months, I have listened to my trainers who insisted I take it easy and go with exercises and weights where there was absolutely no pain involved. However, it is mentally taxing to constantly struggle with resistance exercises where using 30 pounds was considered a hard day. Recently, I saw a TV show that showed an elite athlete going through intense therapy to get back into playing shape after surgery on his knee. Watching him made me decide to change my approach.

In short, there was no "nice and easy" involved here. There were plenty of grimaces that shown through the veil of sweat that covered his face. He fought for every single rep, and it looked like no picnic. He looked very happy to be done despite the egging on of his trainers to squeeze out "just one more rep." However, I think the happiness and relief that I saw was partially due to his sense of accomplishment. He was battling through the pain--and winning. That athlete is playing again and having a record year. Did he take the nice and easy approach? Absolutely not. So why should I?

I have been religiously recording my progress and trying to up the weights every time I get into the gym, even on the days where I felt like I had nothing to give. But, if you want champion results, I think you have to be prepared to give champion effort every time. However, sometimes a clink is better than a clank.

What do I mean by this seemingly meaningless phrase? Well, tipping points have to be properly managed. They can give you a false sense of security and make you start to believe in your own invincibility. Today was just such a day for me. I got caught up in the moment of a series of ever increasing workouts and dramatically increased my weights by 20%. This felt good for a set or two, but after that, I realized I needed to ratchet my weights down to a more human 5% increase from last time I hit the leg press. The results were much smoother and in control. It felt great to hear the "clank" that accompanies sliding another 45 pound plate on each side of the machine (and any regular free weight lifter knows exactly what that sound is). But, I traded that clank for the "clink" that goes with adding a smaller weight to the load. In the end, I was still lifting more weight than I had in months. That was a great accomplishment, and I will try to improve upon it yet again next time.

Tipping points, where things seem to get dramatically easier, can encourage taking shortcuts to a level you are not quite ready for yet. Remember one thing when tacking your business or exercise functional reserve: there are no shortcuts. You only end up sacrificing your fundamentals along the way. Manage your gains in an incremental fashion, and they become permanent. But, if you try to leap past your current level, you will get sloppy and lazy.

Keep this in mind when your business development efforts start to pay off, too. Just when you are starting to get results that are tangible is not the time to start ignoring your plan towards ultimate success.

For example, if you are now able to get new business from improving your closing rate from 15% to 20%, it is now time to try and learn the skills, and do the leg work, that raises it to 25% rather than expecting 50% is the next step for you.

You should use today's accomplishments as the base for tomorrow's gains. Be satisfied with the fact that the next step, a clink, will pay off more in the long run than the temporary rush of a clank.