What I am about to share with you right now is something that is incredibly embarrassing. There came a time, while I was working in the health and wellness industry where I was out of shape. Not just being deconditioned, I mean extremely out of shape.

When I first started going to the gym, it was my escape, it was my therapy and I loved it for years. I started training because I wanted to gain weight and get bigger, stronger, and faster for college football. After 4 years of training I achieved that, until I started my career in the health and wellness industry.

The first year was great, I managed both my personal health and worked with clients, but slowly I started dropping off. I started to skip workouts, started eating out more. This went from being brief 1-2x occurrences to happening every day. And the effects of that followed.

I started to lose muscle mass, I lost 20lbs of muscle I worked 4 years to build. My bodyfat started going up, I developed the proverbial belly pouch. My decline in physical health, led to poor sleep, which caused my energy levels to plummet, which I easily fixed by drinking caffeine. Unfortunately your body develops a tolerance to caffeine so the logical thing to do was go from 1 cup of joe to 4.

How did this happen? Only a couple years ago I was in the best shape ever, and now I was out of shape, fatigued 24/7, emotionally reactive, my adrenal system completely in shambles, inflammation through the roof, and cardiovascular health of a sloth.

This didn’t happen overnight, as you can see this was a series of events that led me to where I was at. At that moment, I was miserable and out of shape, all because of the decision I made 3 years ago, to skip my workout and eat out.

This isn’t only about health, even though health is the area in our lives where this is most prominent. It applies to all areas of our life: Health, Wealth, Happiness, Relationships, Faith, etc.

Every decision in our life that we make is either adding up for you or against you.

In order to help you understand how small things compound over time to improve our life or make our life worse, I want to introduce you to the Marginal Gains Theory.

Marginal Gains Theory:

Marginal Gain Theory is the idea that small incremental improvements in any process can add up to big improvements overtime. The whole emphasis is on making small changes which overtime will lead to bigger effects.

Marginal Gains Theory was created and popularized by Sir David Brailsford, who revolutionized British Cycling and took the Olympic British Cycling team and transformed them into the most successful cycling team in Olympic History.

Applied in a sport performance perspective, Brailsford and his team figured out everything that could affect a cyclist's performance and then improved it all by 1%, from mindset, to attitude, to nutrition, to training regimen, to the tires on the bike. This is what allowed the British Cycling team who were the worst to rise to the top during the 2008 and 2012 Olympics.

His Marginal Gains Theory can be applied not only to sports but to business, and all of life. It allows us to have a different perspective and a holistic view of the actions that we take or dismiss in our lives.

When you apply the theory to all of life, you start to see that there are a few big accomplishments in life that happen but the majority of growth and decline in life are little tiny things that are compounding for or against you invisibly in every area of your life.

Sweat The Small Stuff

If the Marginal Gains Theory is all about small incremental improvements that lead to big improvements.

Then the opposite is true as well:

Every small incremental bad habit or negative action leads to increasing deterioration and negative outcomes.

In my example my decline in my muscle mass, strength, and increase in body fat didn’t just happen, it happened because of that small habit I allowed which led to the negative outcomes.

It’s not only the actions we are talking but it’s the actions we are not taking that are adding up against us as well. Good or small, it all adds up. All actions and decisions we make are building blocks, the actions and decisions you make today will impact your future self.

As a personal trainer I had a client who wanted to lose weight. Her challenge was that she couldn’t limit her alcohol consumption, it was a social thing for her. So somewhere in her life she opened the door for that decision unconsciously, that decision was to drink socially or to appease her social circle that compounded later into her gaining excess weight.

It’s not that drinking, smoking, eating fries, or skipping a workout one time is a bad thing. It’s the opening of the door for the habit or negative action to continue. In aviation there is a rule called the 1 in 60 Rule. The rule states that for every 1 degree of mistake in the direction in the air, the aircraft will drift off course every 60 miles.

How does this apply to the small things?

“For every one error…an aircraft will drift off course.” This applies to the small things in life because for every little thing we miss we are potentially opening ourselves up to miss our target by a long shot. This is especially crucial when it comes to achieving goals or developing new habits because an error can throw us off course.

My personal observation is that negative actions are taken to alleviate stress, find an easy way out, or to feel a sense of belonging, usually because the negative activity is temporary relief from current discomfort. Evolutionarily we are always trying to seek pleasure and avoid discomfort.

Problem with this happening often is that temporary relief gets programmed to become the go to actions, where let’s say you are stressed and you cope with food, substances, or porn. And over time everytime you are stressed food, porn, or substance abuse becomes your automatic action.

You can argue that everyone’s definition of negative actions can be different. What I am referring to are actions that deliberately hinder or impact your physical, mental, spiritual health. (Alcohol, Cigarettes, Fast Food, Porn, etc)

At the end of the day, all choices we make will determine the outcome & quality of our lives, that is why sweating the small stuff is so important.

“Life is meaningless to the person who decided their choices have no meaning.”

9 Areas In Life We Need To Focus On To Be Healthier & Happier:

Now you might be thinking, “Crap this guy is telling me to worry about every little thing that is going on in my life…”

That is not what I am saying at all. The amount of stress and anxiety that comes from sweating about everything is not healthy. Focusing on every little thing would be impossible. And that is the issue we have today, we sweat about the wrong stuff and disregard the things that actually matter.

Here's the 9 things to sweat about around your Health, Wealth, & Happiness that will compound for or against you:

#1. Protein Intake

Not only do you want to focus on overall nutrition, most importantly we should all prioritize protein intake. Protein helps you build and maintain muscle mass among other things, & muscle mass is a very important component of longevity. As we age especially after 50 we start to lose muscle mass, so it’s important as we get older we build and maintain as much muscle mass as possible.

Compounds for you by helping you build and maintain muscle mass so as you age you’re still strong and healthy.

Compounds against you where you don’t have muscle mass, you lose strength, which deteriorates your physical ability as you age.

Having ample muscle mass helps you maintain your quality of life.

#2. Managing Blood Sugar

When you eat a diet high in sugars and refined carbs, your blood sugar levels will spike, especially if you don’t exercise. Over time these spikes in blood sugar will lead to you becoming insulin resistant, then as a result you start to gain weight, develop blood pressure, and cholesterol.

If not focused on then it leads to metabolic syndrome, which is one of the 4 Horseman according to Peter Attia, and leads to slow death.

Compounds for you by giving you ample energy and focus and keeping your heart healthy.

Compounds against you by developing metabolic syndrome, you gaining weight, and eventually dying a slow death.

Lesson here kids is that carbs are not bad, it is the spike in blood sugar that is bad.

#3 Movement

The focus with movement is not to run a marathon or compete in a bodybuilding show, when it comes to the small stuff movement is about cardiovascular health and physical strength. Cardiovascular health is one of the prime indicators of longevity, and as we age we need to have the strength to do everyday things.

Compounds for you by helping you regulate your mood, blood sugar, and maintain heart health & strength.

Compounds against you by deteriorating your heart health, and your strength so your ability to move well becomes tougher and tougher as you age.

#4 Sleep Quality

Want to have better sex? Be in a better mood? Improve your IQ by 50 points? And be a functioning member of society? Focus on consistent sleep improves your overall mental and physical health and is the #1 thing that is underlooked.

Compounds for you by improving your immune system, improving heart health, managing blood sugar, helps you regulate emotions, and cognitive health.

Compounds against you by increasing the risk of disease, hormonal imbalances, decreased cognitive function, & higher chances of mental health issues.

#5 Emotional Spending

Being mindful of your spending keeps you in control and out of debt. Otherwise we succumb to our emotional vices and buy things we don’t need with money we don’t have which lands us in debt that we then scramble to pay.

Compounds for you by allowing you to have money available when an emergency happens, or having excess to invest into your future.

Compounds against you by making you stressed about money because you're living above your means, and it eventually catches up to you.

#6. Save & Invest

Instant gratification is a b*tch. You feel happy in the moment but comes back to bite you in the a**. Save 10% of your income every month. Compound Interest is the 8th wonder of the world according to Warren Buffet.

Compounds for you by giving you a rainy day fund, and compounds to make sure you have enough money to retire one day.

Compounds against you by not having enough money to retire or enjoy life, therefore you’re stuck working till the day you die.

#7. Learning New Skills

You can have everything taken away from you but what can never be stripped away from you is the skills you have developed. Skills allow you to rebuild and grow, skills in my opinion are the key to success in life.

Compound for you by having the ability to add on to the skills and expertise you have over time.

Compounds against you by keeping you limited and stuck at the same level in life that you are at.

#8. Managing Relationships

In my working theory to operationalize happiness, as I see it happiness has 2 main pillars: Internal & External factors that affect happiness.

Part of the External factors is our Local Environment which includes close relationships we have in our lives. Managing those relationships falls under the small stuff that people sweep under the rug until they realize that the quality of the relationships have diminished.

Compounds for you by strengthening your relationships, setting healthy boundaries, and having a healthier state of happiness.

Compounds against you by you being taken advantage of, not setting boundaries with toxic people, and you end up becoming people pleaser sacrificing your happiness for others.

#9. Emotional Regulation

Another pillar for happiness is the Internal Factor which has to do with the Self. This means having the ability to manage your internal state, which includes (1) your mind (understanding how your brain works & its limitations) (2) is the Self which consists of your spirit, emotions, and beliefs.

Part of Self is managing the emotions that rise from within us, or the stories we create we tell ourselves based on our past experiences. Managing the self is probably one of the most important parts of sweating the small stuff, because if left unattended it becomes like sitting water that tends to smell and rot over time.

Compounds for you by allowing you to identify, address, and manage the emotions to allow you to be at peace and have better emotional health.

Compounds against you by creating unnecessary turmoil which makes you reactive & forces you to repeat negative loops of thoughts and emotions that do not serve you.

TL;DR:

Every decision in our life that we make is either adding up for you or against you.

Marginal Gains Theory allows us to understand how small things compound over time to improve our life or make our life worse

Marginal Gains Theory:

Marginal Gain Theory is the idea that small incremental improvements in any process can add up to big improvements overtime. The whole emphasis is on making small changes which overtime will lead to bigger effects. Or in the terms of the motivations gurus “Get 1% better every single day.”

Marginal Gains Theory was created and popularized by Sir David Brailsford, who revolutionized British Cycling who transformed the Olympic British Cycling team into the most successful cycling team in Olympic History.

Sweat The Small Stuff

If the Marginal Gains Theory is all about small incremental improvements that lead to big improvements. Then the opposite is true as well: Every small incremental bad habit or negative action leads to increasing deterioration and negative outcomes.

It’s not just the actions we are taking but it’s the actions we are not taking that are adding up against us. Good or small, it all adds up. All actions and decisions we make are building blocks, the actions and decisions you make today will impact your future self.

The choices we make will determine the outcome & quality of our lives, that is why sweating the small stuff is so important.

9 Areas In Life We Need To Focus On To Be Healthier & Happier:

Here's the 9 things to sweat about around your Health, Wealth, & Happiness that will compound for or against you:

#1. Protein Intake

#2. Managing Blood Sugar

#3. Movement

#4. Sleep Quality

#5. Emotional Spending

#6. Save & Invest

#7. Learning New Skills

#8. Managing Relationships

#9. Emotional Regulation

Personal Thoughts:

Now you might be thinking, what about when people say “Don’t sweat the small stuff” is that statement wrong?

No it’s actually correct, but it gets taken out of context. The funny thing here is that people will tend to sweat the wrong things and not sweat the things that will actually add value to their lives. They sweat about knowing what t-shirt their favorite Tik-Toker is wearing versus the mountain of debt that they have piled up from buying things they don’t need.

Or they’ll worry about buying the newest shoes yet overlook their protruding belly and worry about whether or not they are at risk of dying in the next 10 years.

The reason for this is that we are in an age of abundance, and our primitive brains have not evolved to thrive in an environment where there is this much abundance, and society's narrative of over consumption doesn’t help either.

Action Time:

If I was to look at these 9 things a couple years ago I would be overwhelmed too and wouldn’t know where to start. If I was coaching me back then this is how I would go about it:

1. Start with your health, because your health is your fundamental currency for life. Without it you cannot do anything else.

2. Pick one thing that is doable for you, it’s challenging but not too challenging where it’s impossible, focus on it 100 days consistently, if you drop off get back on bandwagon the next day. Keep doing it until it sticks then move onto the next thing.

At first it will keep like effort but once you give it enough time and reps, it will become a habit where you won’t have to think about it, just need to push through until that happens.

I hope you found this article valuable, if you did feel free to share it someone else using this link: https://mohammedmalik.com/newsletters/b/atgonmarginalgains

Remember small things, done consistently, over a long period of time, lead to extraordinary results.

Till next time,

- M. Malik