Big picture vs. Close up

Finding the balance between looking at the big picture and getting lost in the detail is a work of art AND it is not easy to master.

This month, Derek and I were able to stick to a Sunday morning routine of mountain biking, up in Tahoe.  Most of you already know what happens when I start biking regularly… I start to use A LOT of biking analogies in my blogs! So, this month’s inspiration was totally from my biking…

We have discovered a great “flow” trail in Sugar Bowl.  However, in order to get to it, you need to climb about 900 feet within 1.4 miles with 11% average grade.  Not to mention you are already about 7000 feet above water… Basically, it is not an easy climb.  You certainly have the BIG picture in front of you as you start climbing and then comes the CLOSE-UP view when you look right in front of your tire, with the gravel and the slippery surface. Which would motivate you better? The giant hill ahead? Or the slippery surface right in front? Here is what I have decided to use - the mid way between the two.  Looking just a little further ahead from my tire helped me mentally.  I didn’t need to stare at the upcoming hills, constantly or worry about the loose rocks right in front of me.  I looked far enough to know where I was going with less detail to worry about.

About half way up… you see the building that i point at? that’s the start!

And the hill ahead…. you can’t even see the top.

Both the big picture and the underlying details are key to know, to succeed but I do feel like there is a mid way point that creates the comfort and the direction: Knowing both, you can pick a better “line” to travel to the top of the mountain.  Of course, this is much easier to accomplish with my bike, but neither work nor life is any different.  Let’s think about life… On a daily basis we all deal with A LOT of “details”.  So much so that we might actually loose sight of the big picture.  In a time like that, how do YOU feel if you take a moment to breathe and think about the “week” as opposed to the “day”? Personally, I feel a little bit more relaxed.  Especially if I am having a hard day, it helps me to look beyond just the “day”.  For me, the big picture in life is a little too broad to relax me, so finding a closer target definitely helps me to level set with the craziness of the one day.

Let’s, now, take this same concept to fitness…. The big picture can easily be “being in better shape”.  The details can be “doing bicep curls with 40lbs for 4 sets of 20 each”…. Your arms are tired and your hands are hurting from holding the dumbbells…. It is important to look just far enough to see the better line.  Is how you are working out within the line of a healthy workout routine, which will eventually help you reach to the big picture? It is important that we don’t work out just to workout.  Rather, there is a plan to follow so that we can effectively reach our big picture goal.

This month I will not provide a workout.  Instead, I will give you the opportunity to reach out to me if you would like to talk about your workout routines.  If you create that “mid way point”, between the big picture and the close-up, you will get to your goal faster and easier.

High five to all of us as we try to find the “line to the top of the mountain”…

grow up but not too fast, PLEAse…