The Lightest Weights
There's certainly nothing wrong with tackling something with enthusiasm and wanting to improve in great leaps. That kind of passion is what leads to growth, positive change, and overcoming adversity. However, eventually you will run out of what we in the weight lifting community call "newbie gains," and have temper that enthusiasm with practicality and incremental improvement. If you don't, you will strain or even injure yourself and set yourself back further than if you had slowed down a bit. Let's talk about growth by small steps.
5 Pounds
Let's continue with our weight lifting metaphor. Most lifting programs have you raise the amount you lift by a mere 5 pound increment, assuming you even increase that day at all. At more advanced levels, you may end up using "fractional plates" that weigh less than a pound each to increase it by even less!
What gives? How can you possibly get "stronger" by increasing the weight by such small amounts? For that matter, how can you see noticeable improvement in anything with such tiny advancement?
Because you have limits to how fast you can grow, especially outside the "newbie gains" zone. When learning anything or growing in any way, eventually you reach the point where you have to slow down or risk giving yourself an even worse setback by forcing things.
I tell every single person I even convince to start lifting, "don't try to be a hero." Don't think that just because the bar feels light early on you can throw an extra 50 pounds onto it and just "get jacked." That is a recipe for disaster, overtraining, and likely injury.
Go at the pace that will allow to you to continue to grow, even if it is only in small increments. It is far better to consistently be going forward in small amounts than to burn out or hurt yourself and not be able to accomplish anything while you are forced to wait to recover.
This caution applies to anything that you pursue, whether it be mental or physical growth or learning.
Lowering the Pace, not the Passion
Getting out of the "newbie gains" zone and into incremental growth is not an excuse to slack off and take it easy. If anything, you need to work harder by ensuring you are not getting comfortable and complacent.
The more advanced you become in a skill or area of knowledge, the more important it becomes to not forget the basics or cut corners. You can't just start thinking you have it all figured out, that you can coast to these small improvements.
Despite them being small, they all build on each other and on everything you have accomplished thus far. If you start taking short cuts and slacking off, you will stall and stop improving.
To use our weight lifting example, let us imagine that you have reached the point that you can no longer advance in 5 pound increments. You are forced to move to 2 or even single pound increases due to the extreme weights you are lifting.
Would you take this as a sign that you've "made it," and no longer need to focus on perfect form? Of course not. This would be the stage at which you need to focus even more on the details. To ensure that each small, hard won increase was achieved correctly in order to continue your growth.
This also applies to any pursuit you undertake, not just physical strength. Don't level off, don't plateau, and don't get complacent. Take the smaller increments as the sign that it's time to buckle down even harder.
Your Small Increments
As always, I want to hear from all of you. Tell us about the small steps you take to get better each day, even after the large and obvious gains wear off. Tell us what works for you, and how you stay hungry for it.