A Little Bit is Better Than Nothing

When it comes to exercise, savings, or relationships, a little bit is always better than nothing. Let’s look more in depth at this important principle that a lot of people seem to forget nowadays.

We are in a generation of all-or-nothing mentality. I used to be a perfectionist. For me, a good workout had to be at least 45 minutes long with very short rests. If I did a 30 minute workout, I was disappointed in myself. If my workout was not as intense as usual, I was disappointed. When your standards are too high, you set yourself up for failure right from the start. When I was coming home after a 12-hour shift, I was usually pretty tired. I knew I would not be able to do an intense 45 minute workout and I would usually decide not to go to the gym at all. I decided to do nothing instead of doing a shorter workout. I like exercise and I don’t feel good when I don’t exercise. But the pain of not being able to do my intense 45 minute workout was greater than the pain of not working out at all.

After a few years of living an all-or-nothing mentality, I finally changed my mindset. Nothing in life is perfect. Your workouts won’t always be perfect. Some days, you will feel so good you will be able to stay in the gym for 2 hours. At other times, you will feel so tired and depressed that you will have zero energy to go to the gym. My new approach to life is A little bit is better than nothing. What does it mean? It means it’s better to do a 10 minute workout than nothing at all. It’s better to do a 20 minute workout at low intensity than nothing at all. The body likes to move. Exercise is good for you. Sometimes, you’re tired and you can’t do the intense workout you can usually perform without difficulty. It’s OK. Just do what you can. But do something! A little bit of exercise is always better than no exercise at all.

A lot of my clients skip 3 or 4 days of exercise in a row because they feel tired and they say they lost their motivation. I tell them to do at least a little bit of exercise even if they’re tired and depressed. Even when you’re tired, you’re able to do 5 push-ups. Decide you will do 3 sets of 5 push-ups. Maybe you think 15 push-ups are not enough to become very fit, but 15 push-ups are better than no push-ups at all. These few push-ups will at least improve your muscle memory. Next time you do push-ups, your body will be even better at it. Adopt this new mindset in your life. Do a few reps of push-ups, chin-ups and body squats. Even if it’s only a 5 minute workout, it’s better than 70% of the people who do not exercise at all. Do the same thing with cardio exercises. Five minutes of running is better than no running at all. Some people have the idea that less than 20 minutes of running will do you no good. That’s a lie. Any exercise is good for you. It makes your muscles work and it improves your blood flow.

I highly encourage you to adop the same mindset in other aspects of your life. A little bit of something good is better than nothing at all. It’s also true for your savings, your relationship, and your work. Saving $10 a day is better than saving nothing. At the end of the year, you will have saved $3,650. It looks pretty good to me. Spending 1 hour of quality time with your girlfriend is better than nothing at all. Starting a project at work and working on it for 15 minutes is better than doing nothing. Positive action is always better than inaction.

I hope this article will be helpful to you. Take care and be safe.

David Roy,

Personal Trainer, Businessman, and Author