What Are You Practicing?
My family and I are back at this year’s Indian Wells — a professional tennis event we’ve been coming to for many years now. It never gets old. Watching these world-class players up close, admiring their beautiful strokes, incredible shots, and rallies… it’s honestly just amazing.
One of our favorite things to do here is watch the practice sessions. Yesterday, as I stood there watching some of my favorite players, I was reminded of the staggering amount of repetition required to be that good.
Elite players drill the same movements relentlessly so that when the pressure of a match hits, they don’t have to overthink — they rely on the muscle memory built through thousands of practiced repetitions. They make it look effortless — but it is anything but.
And it got me thinking about this question: What am I practicing? What are YOU practicing?
Here’s the uncomfortable part — this principle works both for you and against you. If we find ourselves practicing procrastination, negative self-talk, impatience, or inconsistency… we get “better” at those too, and they become our default muscle-memory actions that we fall back on every day.
Just like I can’t get frustrated with my lack of tennis skills if I’m not consistently practicing, it also doesn’t make sense to be frustrated with your lack of progress in nutrition or wellness if you haven’t truly been practicing the relevant skills.
When it comes to wellness, I’m curious to know… have you been practicing:
Sitting with uncomfortable emotions instead of distracting yourself with things like technology or food?
Taking a pause before eating to decide if it is truly “worth it” to you and/or aligned with your habits and goals?
Planning ahead just a little — instead of relying on willpower later?
Noticing your hunger and fullness cues instead of eating by the clock?
Asking for help when you need it?
Look, healthy habits require prioritization. They require messy progress. Missed shots. Adjustments. Repetition. Over and over again.
For some reason, we can understand this when it comes to sports. Or learning a language. Or getting good at our jobs. Or playing an instrument. But when it comes to health and nutrition, we expect perfection without practice.
Seriously — how crazy is that?
And instead of staying the course and practicing the very basic skills that would lead us to success, we try to shortcut our way there with fad diets and extremes.
Never a winning equation.
Even the pros still miss shots. They make unforced errors. They have off days. The difference isn’t perfection — it’s their willingness to learn from the mistake and keep going. Over and over and over again.
So instead of getting frustrated with your lack of progress, maybe ask yourself:
What have I actually been practicing?
And if the honest answer is avoidance, inconsistency, negativity, or excuse-making… then the outcome makes sense. Not as a judgment. Just as feedback.
That question — “What am I practicing right now?” — really landed for me. I plan to use it throughout my day as a quiet check-in. A way to realign in the moment. Because whatever you practice… you become better at. And that can either work for you — or against you.
What have you been practicing lately? 🎾
Part 2 of this post coming soon…