Unstable Athlete Duped by Winner’s Circle Bias

Did you guys hear about the athlete that trained for a little while and then stopped and then “got back into it” and then took a break? No? Of course you didn’t, because there’s nothing to report. Why would you?

Conversely, you have heard of this guy, though, right? We won’t go there again. Winners will win (as they do).

We hear about the winners. People don’t talk about or write books about the normal surplus of failures out there. This is phenomenon is called a winners circle bias. It’s the reason people get duped into playing the lottery. If, for example, the newspaper was filled with every name of every loser of the lottery, the Sunday newspaper would be 105,000 pages long and maybe after you read every name listed you wouldn’t make horrible decisions like playing the lottery.

Fitness can be the same. If you look around and assume that the people who have fitness success are just normal people who also succumb to the thousands of reasons to be unaccountable to their goals (like a regular person might), then you might make decisions to take a break from training every eleven weeks because finances are tight or because it’s a busy time of year and think you will also have success. After all, that’s normal, right?

Wrong. The fact of the matter is there are many millions of people who have reasons to be unfit, and, as a result, they are. Those who are fit have made a decision to forfeit a lifestyle that would lead them to be unfit.

The word “remarkable” isn’t just a synonym for “outstanding” or “excellent”. It describes that which worthy of making a remark about. The reason you haven’t heard, read, or seen anything about the floundering athlete with common training interruptions is because it’s impossible to have remarkable outcomes with that behavior. Again, there’s nothing to report of note.

While this article may feel condescending, there is purpose here. I genuinely believe all people, even the lowest achievers, desire remarkable outcomes. For some, what they call might “remarkable” may be subjective, but surely they desire their own version of something better, nonetheless.

Forget the ins and outs of what style of training is perfect for you or what obstruction you have to your goals and realize that the only chance in hell you have at anything you want is a relentless effort. The people in the winners circle have decided their outcomes. Will you decide yours?

 

Logan Gelbrich

@functionalcoach