Hey Team,
Sorry to disappoint, but this isn’t a letter centered around beer pong.
Admitted or not, there’s something everyone wants to be good at. Some want to lift heavier, run faster, look better, and eat healthier. Some want to lean into ceramics for stress relief or put in their notice to pursue a career that leaves them fulfilled. And some, just want to stop feeling like crap. All of these are valid.
No matter what your goal is, you aren’t going to get there by trying to replace all of the parts at once. You can’t wake up tomorrow and suddenly be a master at movement, nutrition, sleep and stress to instantaneously become the best version of yourself. For the sake of being cliché, Rome wasn’t built in a day, and it takes decades of brick laying to build the foundation needed for a long and healthy life.
There is a way, however, to make the process a bit more efficient, and it’s called the One Cup Rule.
The essence of the One Cup Rule is to become a master of one, versus a master of none. In short it helps you focus on one task at a time to get really good at that task before moving on to the next one on your list.
Let’s use the most sought out goal as our example; losing weight. Ironically it’s oftentimes the most failed goal not because the person lacks discipline, but because they’re trying to do too much at once. They’ve heard podcasts, read articles and newsletters (👀🤫) and watch commercials that are pulling them in every which way to achieve their dream body. They start eating in a caloric deficit, stressing less, going to bed earlier, moving more. They’ve eliminated processed food and emphasize Zone 2 cardio. They’ve implemented virtually every tool there is in the weightloss handbook, and it lasts for one week.
They tried filling five or six cups instead of filling one. A better approach would be to start with one of the multiple changes listed above, perhaps following a caloric deficit diet, and adhering to that commitment until it became a habit. Once one habit is developed and easily implemented into a daily routine without thought, the cup is full. Dump it out and start filling a new one, like moving at least 20 minutes per day.
The One Cup Rule doesn’t just apply to limiting your cups towards one goal. A lot of us like to choose multiple, oftentimes, conflicting goals. I’m guilty of it. Each time I’ve trained for a half Ironman, my body compensates the longer endurance sessions by slightly increasing my body fat percentage. When you’re putting yourself through 4-hour training blocks, there’s only so much carb and glycogen stores to go around, so the body starts seeking energy elsewhere. My performance and endurance increase throughout the cycle, but my mental health decreases as I notice visible changes in my body despite the upkeep of heavy strength training. My knee jerk reaction is to go low carb and put body comp at the forefront of my checklist, which would severely harm my performance goals for the race. I try to fill too many cups to the point where none of them are full. It’s a habit I’ve learned to break by being at peace with the repercussions that come with the goal at hand. Now, in the off season, I find my body comp in a comfortable place, but I sure as hell couldn’t pull off 70.3 miles, and that’s okay. It’s not the cup I’m currently filling.
Patience is an earned skill. In a world where we can get what we want with a simple click, learning to slow things down and maintain focus on one thing at a time is something that takes mindful practice. Pick a skill, fill the cup. When you’ve got ten on the table, I’ll meet you for a match. 😉
Until next week. 👋
Danielle Bitts
VP of Brand, Bodybuilding.com
