The Repeated Combat Effect: If Nothing Changes, Then Nothing Will Change
Want to see a change happen? So why are you always doing the same thing? The more you repeat a behavior, the less it affects you, because you get used to it; this is the repeated combat effect. Therefore, in order to have a better result, you have to change something, dare to be new. Nothing will change until something changes.
The repeated fighting effect comes from a sports study, but it can be applied perfectly to everyday life. When you play sports, such as an arm curl exercise, your body experiences stimulation that contracts its muscles until muscle pain appears.
Continuing to do this or any other exercise that causes this pain will result in reduced pain. Because it will affect us less and less. Therefore, the more systematically you engage in this type of exercise, the less pain you feel and the less it affects you. How can we apply this to our daily life?
According to the repeated combat effect, the more we do something, the less impact that something has on us. Yes, it is possible that a behavior or series of habits will cause us to improve at some point in our life, but over time the effect wears off.
The exact same thing happens when you start to exercise. You can start exercising three times a week and see great results, but over time your body gets used to it and you need to do more if you want to keep improving. Otherwise, the body will stagnate and may even regress.
Another example can be found in the consumption of stimulating and / or addictive substances such as for example caffeine, alcohol, tobacco or drugs. Initially, a small dose is sufficient. But over time, more is needed in order to reach the same point, because the body gets used to the first dose and then it does not have the same effect on us.
The same is true when we are trying to lose weight. At first, if we do what is necessary (improve our eating habits, drink enough water, exercise, control stress, sleep better, etc.), then we start to observe weight loss. But as soon as the body gets used to it and the repeated fighting effect kicks in, the weight loss slows down, as the body gets used to it.
In these cases as well as in all those where you have reached a point of stgnation, surely you can apply the repeated combat effect. In effect, you end up with a new baseline. Do you want to improve? So you have to change something to be as close as possible to the change you want to happen.
Doing the same thing all the time, even if it worked at some point, will eventually lead to a state of stagnation. The real problem is not stagnating, but not realizing that it is necessary to change strategy.
In fact, there is nothing wrong with knowing this moment of stagnation. You had to work a lot to get there. Instead of whining, congratulate yourself on your successes and instead ask yourself what change (s) you need to make to continue to improve.
The repeated fighting effect in its original context implies that the muscles have adapted to the exercise. Therefore, if you keep doing the same, you will not improve (you will not gain muscle mass, you will not get stronger, you will not increase your resistance or speed, etc.). In other words, if you don’t hurt, you won’t get better. The same thing happens with habits and personal development: if something doesn’t cost you, you won’t improve.
Now, why are we not satisfied with what we have already succeeded in achieving? Why change if what we do has allowed us to improve? What if we are happy with these improvements? Why always want more when what we have achieved is already enough?
This is not a question of ambition. It’s a matter of personal satisfaction. If you can go further, why not do it and give yourself the means? Either way, being satisfied with what has already been acquired and stagnating has a terrible consequence: boredom. And when we are bored, we start to give in. And by giving in, we start to lose.
Making changes to achieve greater change keeps us motivated and active. Not only to achieve our goals, but also to maintain them.
Our thoughts “If you don’t like something; if you can’t change it, change the way you think about it. “
