I couldn’t agree more, because fear (of failure, wasting time, looking idiotic) is something that’s held me back in certain areas (especially weight loss!) for years. Thanks for the insightful post. And props to all the purple cows out there .

The Purple Cow idea has so many applications beyond the business and health areas which I wrote about. I’m a freelance writer, a business in itself, and this book has really made me think about how I go about marketing my warez. It’s scary being remarkable. But it’s a lot more fun. Moo!

I also love the way you ended this post. Moo.

I have not read The Dip but you have convinced me that I must. I’ll let you know what I think. Thanks! =)

That is my personal script! The fitness industry is so wrapped up in more, heavier, shinier, newer, faster, flashier. But more is not always better, better is better!

And being smarter about your goals, taking your fate into your own hands is part of that. But I think another big and important part of the puzzle is constant skill development. If you are always learning and developing new skills, you will never get bored with your training. And at the same time you will be consistently developing your brain / muscle connections in ever more sophisticated ways. Research has shown that aging is a loss of sophistication of movement. What better way to delay that than to constantly rewrire those pathways.

There are tons of ways to learn new skills. You can take up new sports or activities periodically. But better yet, you can dive into the skills you already have in more and more complex patterns. For example, there are a million different ways you can sophisticate on the theme of a simple push-up.

Anyhow, great post. And I’ve been looking for my copy of The Dip, by Seth Godin, for about a week now. This reminds me that I have to keep looking! I really want to read it again and recommend it to fitness enthusiasts. There are a lot of takeaways that are very applicable.

Cheers,
Adam