One More Rep

It was just another day at the gym.

I showed up, already dreading the workout ahead. I memorized the circuit my trainer had written for me and got to it.

Like most days, somewhere around the 70% mark, my mind began its usual negotiations.

That’s enough for today.

You’ve done most of it.

Skip that last rep.

But everytime, I would bargain with myself.

Just finish the remaining 30%. Take longer breaks if you must. Slow down if you need to.

But finish it.

So that’s what I did. Five days a week, I dragged myself through this one-hour ordeal.

Not perfectly, ofcourse.

I love travelling. And I hate working out on holidays. I also travel every other month. So, if you do the math, I’d easily skip gym one week a month on average.

My diet during the week is disciplined, but weekends? Complete debauchery. And nothing will stop me from enjoying a piece of dark chocolate everyday either.

But despite all that, I kept showing up whenever I could.

Then one day, after a year of this imperfect consistency, something shifted.

For months I had been avoiding stepping on the body composition scale. The thought of seeing the numbers made me nervous. But that morning, I finally decided to face it.

The result surprised me.

Over the course of a year, I had dropped 6% body fat and gained 1kg muscle.

Did I ever target those numbers?

Not at all.

All I did was show up.

Around the same time, I made another small decision for myself. I invested in aligning my teeth.

Many people warned me about it.

“You’ll have to wear aligners all the time.”

“It’s a lifestyle change”

“It’s uncomfortable”

And they were right.

For the first four days, I desperately wanted to throw the aligners out of the window.

But I didn’t.

I simply kept them in. One day at a time.

Three months later, there was already a 70% visible change.

Did I personally engineer that transformation?

Not really. The Invisalign brand probably did.

All I did …again…was show up.

These small experiences taught my nervous system something important.

Results are rarely created in the moment you chase them.

They are quietly built in the background while you keep showing up.

Recently, a friend told me how he motivates his sales team. His advice was simple and yet so magical.

“Don’t target results. Target efforts”.

If the efforts are consistent, results eventually have nowhere to hide.

Around the same time, I read something by the famous and wise monk, Gaur Gopal Das. He compared results to a beautiful butterfly. Highly desired but always out of reach when chased. He says it’s much wiser to prepare a garden that attracts the butterfly rather than spending time and energy trying to chase it only for it to slip right through your fingers.

He also compared life to the board game of ‘Snakes & Ladders’.

The ladders test your humility when things go well.

The snakes test your resilience when things go wrong.

Together, they are both inevitable.

But, there is only one way to move forward in that game.

You have to keep rolling the dice.

Because as long as you keep rolling, nothing can stop you from reaching the final block.

And somewhere along the way, I also learned something else that made the whole journey feel lighter -

If you feel like giving up today, then give up today.

Skip the workout. Close the laptop. Eat the dessert.

Just make sure you show up again tomorrow.

Because progress isn’t ruined by one bad day. It’s only ruined when one bad day becomes the last day.

The truth is, most days you won’t feel inspired.

Sometimes, you won’t even feel particularly passionate about the task in front of you.

And that’s fine.

But yet, show up and do the job.

If you put your heart into it, that’s a bonus baby.

But if all you can manage today is effort, that’s still enough.

Consistency is the real magic.

And now when I’m at the gym, somewhere around the 70% mark, my mind still begins its usual negotiations.

You’ve done enough.

This is respectable effort.

Let’s not break our bones.

And honestly, sometimes I agree.

But most days I pause, take a breath, and remind myself of something I’ve learned over time.

Most meaningful changes in life don’t arrive with trumpets and dramatic breakthroughs. They sneak up on you.

They appear quietly one morning on a body composition scale. Or three months later in the mirror when your teeth suddenly look straighter. Or one random day when something that once felt impossible now feels routine.

All because, on many unremarkable days, you simply stayed a little longer.

So when my trainer tells me to go for another set and my soul briefly leaves my body…

I sigh, pick up the weights again, and think to myself:

Fine.

Just one more rep.