• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Breaking Muscle

Breaking Muscle

Breaking Muscle

  • Fitness
  • Workouts
    • Best Shoulder Workouts
    • Best Chest Workouts
    • Best Leg Workouts
    • Best Leg Exercises
    • Best Biceps Exercises
    • Best Kettlebell Exercises
    • Best Back Workouts
    • Best HIIT Workouts
    • Best Triceps Exercises
    • Best Arm Workouts
  • Reviews
    • Supplements
      • Best Pre-Workouts
      • Best Whey Protein
    • Equipment
      • Best Home Gym Machines
    • Certifications
      • ISSA Review
  • News
  • Exercise Guides
    • Legs
      • Back Squat
      • Bulgarian Split Squat
      • Goblet Squat
      • Zercher Squat
      • Standing Calf Raise
      • Hack Squat
    • Chest
      • Bench Press
      • Dumbbell Bench Press
      • Close-Grip Bench Press
      • Incline Bench Press
    • Shoulders
      • Overhead Dumbbell Press
      • Lateral Raise
    • Arms
      • Chin-Up
      • Weighted Pull-Up
      • Triceps Pushdown
    • Back
      • Deadlift
      • Trap Bar Deadlift
      • Lat Pulldown
      • Inverted Row
      • Bent-Over Barbell Row
      • Single-Arm Dumbbell Row
      • Pendlay Row
Fitness

Move Slowly If You Must, But Move

Sometimes a paradigm shift looks like a tiny change. If we want change, even slow movement will serve us better than immobilization. We don’t have to rush, but we do have to move.

val worthington, valerie worthington, bjj, mma, brazilian jiu jitsu, grappling

Written by Valerie Worthington Last updated on June 10, 2012

Of late, a large enough number of friends and acquaintances is making big changes in their lives (leaving one geographic location for another, contemplating switching jobs, etc.) that I’ve started to think there’s something in the water. Or rather, they WANT to make big changes, but are leery of the implications of those changes. They are tired of the profession they’re in, ready to move to a location that suits them better, or otherwise ready to initiate some kind of paradigm shift, a significant change to some aspect of their lives that has reverberations throughout all other aspects of their lives.

But they are afraid to do anything drastic, for fear of the unknown, a very powerful fear since it is by definition unidentifiable. So they are at a standstill, wanting something different, but unable to picture it clearly and fearful of making a misstep. Note that this is not a judgment, but rather an observation. And these fears and desires, in my experience with paradigm shifts in recent years, are a necessary precursor to any meaningful action. Given that I have shifted paradigms several times, when the friends in question ask for advice, I have some to give. Whether it’s good or not is a separate question, but it basically amounts to, “Move slowly if you must, but move.” I haven’t always been able to articulate it quite so pithily, but there it is.

Let’s say, for instance, that you want to change careers, which one of my friends does. This friend dislikes her job and has a vague sense of the kind of thing she’d like to be doing, if relatively little experience doing it. So there are three challenges here: no clarity, no credibility, and no self-confidence. When she asked me for advice, I suggested she volunteer one or two times a week at something resembling what she thinks she wants to be doing professionally. Even if it’s only a vague notion, it’s something to go on.

That would help her begin to address all three of the aforementioned problems – slowly. My friend would be able to say “I like/dislike this type of work,” which would be useful information to apply to subsequent decisions. She would gain some experience and perhaps some connections. And she would likely start to feel good for having taken some action, which could lead to additional action. Equally importantly, doing something like this would require very little change to the status quo.

I know that doesn’t sound like a paradigm shift. We think of them as happening quickly, like the way winning the lottery changes everything. (Well, I would imagine that’s what it’s like to win the lottery; I haven’t had the pleasure.) But when the situation is within our control, such shifts actually can start small, as I described elsewhere. And they are more likely to stick if we do them slowly, because we have time to adjust our expectations and attitudes along the way.

tortoise and hare, turtle and hare, rabbit, turtle, tortoiseThe point is, as I have mentioned to my friends, if we want to make a change, it is important to move, even if we must move slowly. We might find we pick up speed in some places and slow down in others, but if we just move, we’ll make it to the next step. That next step might not lead us exactly where we think it will, but it will be where we’re supposed to go.

So what does this have to do with BJJ? Well, reread the previous paragraph. Does any of that sound familiar or like something your coach might say? As in life, it might not be the only way to move, but if we have no other ideas, it’s a place to start.

val worthington, valerie worthington, bjj, mma, brazilian jiu jitsu, grappling

About Valerie Worthington

Valerie Worthington has been moving her body since before she was born, for many reasons and with many outcomes. She really started to pay attention to how, when, and why her body moves when she began training in Brazilian jiu jitsu in 1998. From then on, she became hugely invested in educating herself about how to optimize her body movement for BJJ and how to support it in doing so. She has observed that these endeavors require her to invest herself not only physically, but also mentally, emotionally, and psychologically, fueling a particular interest in the influence on her life of these dimensions of athletic activity.

Valerie has developed as a BJJ practitioner via her own training and competition preparation, teaching and coaching other practitioners, and writing about her life as a jiu jitsu devotee through the lens of her education, personal experiences, and professional background. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English literature from Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, and a doctorate in educational psychology from Michigan State University. She is a first-degree black belt in BJJ, as well as co-founder and proprietor of Groundswell Grappling Concepts. She trains at Princeton Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in Princeton, New Jersey.

Most recently, Valerie is the author of How to Love a Grappler: A Guide for People Who Love People Who Love Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

View All Articles

Recommended Articles

11206583924364784289307369687781128616950o
You’re Not an Elite Athlete, So Stop Acting Like One
Mind Your Mental Momentum
The Science Behind Why “I Think I Can” Actually Works
shawngerber
Why We Know, But Don’t Do

Primary Sidebar

Latest Articles

Jamal Browner Logs a Monster 426.4-Kilogram (940-Pound) Conventional Stance Raw Deadlift

Sonita Muluh (+84KG) Scores Squat One Kilogram (2.2 Pounds) Above Raw World Record in Training

Olympia Legend Dorian Yates Describes His Favorite Back Exercise

Amanda Lawrence (84KG) Squats 11.5 Kilograms (25.3 Pounds) More Than IPF World Record In Training

Latest Reviews

ISSA Personal Trainer Certification Review

ISSA Personal Trainer Certification Review

Best Whey Proteins for Packing on Muscle, Shredding Down, Meal Replacement, and More

Best Pre-Workouts for Building Muscle, Running, Taste, and More

Best Home Gym Machines

Best Home Gym Machines

woman lifting barbell

Be the smartest person in your gym

The Breaking Muscle newsletter is everything you need to know about strength in a 3 minute read.

I WANT IN!

Breaking Muscle is the fitness world’s preeminent destination for timely, high-quality information on exercise, fitness, health, and nutrition. Our audience encompasses the entire spectrum of the fitness community: consumers, aficionados, fitness professionals, and business owners. We seek to inform, educate and advocate for this community.

  • Reviews
  • Healthy Eating
  • Workouts
  • Fitness
  • News

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS Feed

© 2023 · Breaking Muscle · Terms of Use · Privacy Policy · Affiliate Disclaimer · Accessibility · About